I just ordered a print from Leah Giberson. She has a beautiful collection of prints available on Etsy. Her paintings feature concrete urban landscapes, empty swimming pools, and unoccupied chairs. Although the subjects seem cold, the colors make the paintings themselves very warm.
Encouraging everyone to think heart over head this valentines day.
Card from 3 Lambs Graphics' lovely collection. Available on Etsy.
Islands is an in progress sculpture project by German artist Markus Hofko. Each island depicts a small snapshot of life, where the people left there seem to simply do what they do best. I guess life keeps on going, even in isolation... just not as well rounded as before. I can't wait to see more.
I always get in trouble for playing with my food. But my food, rearranging neurosis don't touch on Kathryn Parker Almanas'! She dissects food, arranges it biology lab style, and photographs it. The scientific arrangements are a refreshing approach to a typical food still life. They momentarily change the way I look at food. This is my kind of innovative thinking. (Found though PicoCool).
Fifty People One Question is a heartwarming little video project created by Crush + Lovely and Deltree. I say "little" because it is such a serenely simple idea, and so simply executed, that it seems effortless. The project does what it says, asks 50 people, in 1 city, 1 question. The questions are also simple: What do you wish to happen by the end of the day? Where would you like to wake up? ...and the answers are varied and beautiful. Watch them all here. (Found through It's That Nice)
GE has a beautiful new interactive website to promote their Smart Grid innovations. The website is stunning, with intelligent interactive features like a print and play augmented reality Smart Grid. The forward thinking website reflects well on their forward thinking ideas about energy. GE has some intriguing ideas about integrating alternative power sources and smart meters into consumer's lives. They make a convincing argument by visualizing the potential impacts.
I'm using Frank Chimero as my design psychologist today. I've had his Proposed Creative Workflow hanging by my desk for a while now. Today I'm adding: Simplicity Requires Courage. Frank has a lovely way with words and images. Not to mention, his marvelous, to-the-point design philosophies.
You can find these and other inspirational design posters on Frank's website.
I just keep flipping through the Lu Cong's gallery of work in awe. His paintings are so beautiful and serene. They are realistic with a twist of oddity. Kind of like modern versions of Renaissance paintings.
Lu Cong was recently named one of five of “Today’s Masters Making Their Marks”. I'm guessing that means I can't afford any of his work... eagerly awaiting prints.
Matthew Tischler has an intriguing photography series, all shot through screens. Screen Series are photos that border on paintings. They make me think of a modernized needlepoint. Prints of the Screen Series are available through 20x200. I just wish he had called them "Screenshots".
The Baby Name Wizard has mapped baby name trends over time. If you want to know where and when a baby name was popular in the United States, just type in the name and explore the maps. The maps are viewable by year, highlighting the peak year and the trends over time.
Guide to Get Lost is a student project by Emily CM Anderson. I don't know a whole lot about the project, but I kind of like it that way. There is something really charming and inspirational about wanting to get lost. And even more charming about needing a guide to do it. I'm just going to sit and enjoy that thought for a while.
If you are a wannabe street artist like me, you will probably appreciate this idea. The Walls Notebook was created by Mihoko Ouchi and Sherwood Forlee. It is a notebook of "blank" New York walls for you to sketch on. There are 80 inspirational backdrops in all, ready and waiting for your tag. I can't wait until my copy arrives!
I have thought about my favorite words before, but I have never stopped to think about which words in the English language I consider the most beautiful. Here are 100 suggestions to help make your decision. I think I'm going with evanescent.
I miss living in New York. I think about my experiences there often. So I especially appreciated Christoph Niemann's I LEGO N.Y. A documentation of his seeing reminders of New York, in pieces of lego. (Thanks Lexi!).
I'm always looking for new inspiration to feed my information visualization addiction. Today I found that inspiration in Synoptic. Synoptic was created by German design student Roland LoBlein. It visualizes meteorological data specified by the viewer, and arranged chronologically. The visualizations are beautiful, but what really got me was the ability to turn the graph around in 3D. It immediately gives the data more life and relevance. OK, I'm going to say it again - Damn, I thought I hated charts. (Found through Computerlove).
Ha! (found through Half Deserted Streets).
Jack Cheng points out that we all spend more time dreading the items on our To Do lists than it would actually take to complete them (guilty as charged). He decided to increase his own productivity by doing something about this. His solution - time tagging his To Do list. For each item To Do he writes down, he adds an estimate of how much time it will take to complete. That way when he has 20 min free, he uses is to complete a 5, 10 or 15 minute task, instead of avoiding the list all together.
I like the thinking behind this idea. It is simple, with just the right amount of responsibility and guilt built in. I'll try this out and let you know how it goes...
Photographer Richard Renaldi's Touching Strangers series captures the awkward moment when two strangers come in physical contact with each other. The subjects of the photos are posing together, as if they know one another, but clearly do not. The priceless little giveaways like a clenched jaw or stiff embrace are what make the photos so enjoyable.
I'm learning programmers are more like designers than I thought, care of Derek Powazek's Programmers are Tiny Gods. (Found through Andre Brocatus).
