Bottle caps for Christmas

Thank you, Martha Stewart. This year for Christmas, I want to be more resourceful and personal. I'm going to make refrigerator magnets out of bottle caps and use family member's photographs as images. I'll put my face on one or two of them. Gotta make sure they remember me while I'm away.

Was that necessary?

Unnecessary process.

Just in case you didn't know how to use a moist towelette, the directions say to: Tear open packet and use.

Yours Truly, Becs

This ad is from Australia Post. It's done so well. The image really captures the tagline: If you really want to touch someone, send them a letter. Now I'm on a mission to find out how they created this fantastic image.
And I love the message. Writing letters does seem like a dead art form. Moving away from home, I get more letters than ever. It's the best part of my day. Especially when I get a handwritten from my little sister telling me how much I miss her. Yes, my younger sister writes Me to tell Me that she knows I miss HER.

The Lovely Bones

The Lovely Bones is something that grips at your heart in all the right places. We see the world during the late 60s from a raped and murdered 14-year-old girl living in heaven. Even from the title, the juxtaposition of lovely and bones gives a sense of Sebold's bold writing style. Disturbing, beautiful, tragic, and funny all in one book. This is the only book I've read twice. I even manage to make time to read it during the busiest weeks of the semester. The movie, directed by Peter Jackson (Lord of the Rings triology) comes out Jan 15th.

In this example of how-to, the process of softening a picture in photoshop cs4 is explained in paragraph form with screenshots. I say divvy it up with numbers, especially steps in any kind of computer program. Makes for an easier read. Useful technique though.

Photoshop Magic

Found some cool pictures that show the awesome things you can do with photoshop:

"Letterfall"

"Eggplant"

"Burger Attack"

Woes of graphic designers

A friend sent me this funny email between a client and graphic designer.

Packaging story

I brought in Kozy Shack rice pudding, one of my favorite snacks. The story on the package is their origin. However, the real story is how I came to like them. On my first trip to NYC I went to Rice to Riches, which serves only rice pudding in various flavors. After I fell in love, I saw Kozy Shack at Wal Mart. For $2 a tub. Hell yea. The End.

Another great package design

I like 'em upfront.

The outside is just as important as the inside

Packaging design blogs:
www.dieline.com
http://lovelypackage.com/
http://dzineblog.com/2009/01/packaging-design-inspiration-part-3.html

Coca Cola Light. "Tribute to Fashion."

Dutch department store HEMA paper design

Once upon a time...(Narratives)

I already mentioned Old Boy (Korean with subtitles). But it's worth a second post. Incredible story of revenge.


Once. Not quite a love story but the lead male and female have great chemistry. Girl helps guy make an album. Such beautiful music in this movie.


The Classic (Korean with subtitles). A daughter finds her mother's love letters. The story switches back to her mom's past and her current love situation. The lead female plays both mother and daughter in this movie. But she does it so well. She's believable as both.

(500) Days of Summer. Not your typical boy meets girl story. The story is told through a random order of days. Joseph Gordon-Levitt (adorable) and Zooey Deschanel (love her) play off each other really well and they CAN act (sorry Edward and Bella).

WaterWorld

Cool ad for drinking water.

Old Boy

Netflix Old Boy. This is one of my favorite movies of ALL time. The style of the storytelling is so unique.

Typography, we love

Outline text from NYLON. Playful.

Sans serif font from GQ magazine. Classy and unpretentious.

The New Yorker title font. Classic.

Toy soldiers to create the alphabet. Creative.

Written all over your face

Images made out of text. Brilliant.

Post Secret

I found out about this awesome site from my one of my visual and verbal rhetoric classmate. People design their secret on a postcard and send them in.

http://postsecret.blogspot.com/

Here's a few examples:












More at: http://postsecretarchive.com/

I call the teal construction paper

Our mini group project: working with only construction paper and scissors to convey a story. Cheers to the Molly Bang book.

The new bathroom decor

Rice to Riches in NYC. I love how they put speech bubbles on the mirror. Thoughts you think about as you look at your reflection. I should have mini ones in my bathroom as morning inspirations.

Not just for building castles

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vhxNGz4Ew1o

A cool video on how a sand artist tells a story.

Popcorn, extra butter

The upcoming release of New Moon got me thinking how cool it would be to design a movie poster. Or if you could design a movie poster about your life. How would design it?



I also love the retro movie posters. They should bring back the graphics and colors.

Born Again

The more I'm immersed in the design world, the more I come to appreciate graphic novels. This is the first graphic novel I read. Watch out for Captain America's cameo.

Say What?

Favorite words:
brilliant
debacle
percolate
rendezvous
inoculate
sporadically
albeit
caveat
besot
rambunctious
bamboozle
supercalifragilisticexpialidocious
cacophony
incantation

Slang words:
bizzle
pizzacked
mmm kay
props
dunlap

Home Sweet Home

What better topic to do my documentary than New Orleans

Documentaries Galore

Here's a site that features tons of documentaries you can view:

http://www.documentary-film.net/

I have so many ideas. But none feasible. I need my creative powers to activate asap.

Call to Action

Double hitter. Donate blood and watch the new Vampire show.

Adidas used their own logo and tagline for the QUIT SMOKING campaign.

Campaign Project Inspiration

Provocative anti-smoking campaigns.
It's refreshing to see these types of ads.

33's and LP's

My collection: Vinyl Records
Good things come with needle scratches.

Random Inspiration #152 and Rule #355 for making the world a better-looking place:

Mailboxes designed with the Jedi in mind

MISSING CHILDHOOD

Alaena Punzi is determined. She wants to shave her legs, wear makeup, and get her eyebrows waxed. Her fashion tastes tend toward miniskirts and trendy tees. None of this would be a terribly big deal -- except that Alaena is only 10.

Excerpt from the article "Too Sexy, Too Soon" by Salley Shannon

On the Skinny Side

Social Issue Idea: Body Image.

Molecular Gastronomy Layout

The layout design I had in mind for Project 2.

Spotted: Art and Science joined at the hip

My friend Sophia's recent trip to a molecular gastronomy restaurant in Chicago was an inspiration for the Definition project.

Cigar for dinner? Actually, the "ashes" are sesame seeds, the "cigar wrapper" is made from collard greens, and inside is pulled pork.

Art and science should hook up more often. They know how to make beauty.

What would the world be without Nutella?

An idea of what I want. Now, to spruce it up...

Cardinal Sins

I found a funny example of a euphemism from one of my favorite shows:

Dr. House: Who were you going to kill in Bolivia? My old housekeeper?
Dr. Terzi: We don't kill anyone.
Dr. House: I'm sorry--who were you going to marginalize?
("Whatever It Takes," episode from the show House, M.D.)