Whilst browsing the web and I came across one of those moments that made me say "Oh, that's cool!". What's cool I here you ask...
Four Eyes Bookmark and / or USB stick!Designed by Willie Tsang from Imm Living. Here is what they had to say about it.
Think of the term "nerd" and you will likely identify this type of individual with a list of visual cues. Ranked highest among these would be the classic thick black frame eyeglasses. Nerds can be found around the world, going against the grain of popular culture. These socially awkward misfits partake in cerebral activities such as academic reading and technical gadgetry. Four Eyes has a dual function and can be used as a bookmark and a USB key with a connector attached at its base. Its geek chic silhouette pays tribute to nerd culture.
Then I found this! The Puffy Bookmark. The bookmark contains an air-filled chamber, half of which is flattened by the weight of a book. squeezing the exposed side inflates the concealed side lift the page just enough for your finger to slip in. After use you can even make your own tube tree with the packaging! visit www.onesik.com.
Today we have another treat for you all, a collection of free desktop wallpapers we have found on the Internet. The theme for today is illustration. They are fun, creative, and best of all free! Brighten up your day with a great wallpaper for your desktop. There should be something for everyone! Au Reve (1280px X 800px) by J3Concepts
click image to download
Spiders Ice Cream Morphine (1280px X 800px) by J3Concepts
click image to download
The Day We Met For Coffee (1280px X 800px) by J3Concepts
click image to download
How To Raise A Thief (1280px X 960px) by J3Concepts
Strategy: Don‘t merely show pictures of famous football players. Bring the footballers closer to the fans and the fans closer to them. Let each fan feel like a fly on the wall, as the tension reaches a crescendo, just seconds before the beginning of the match. They created a 17 m high, 33 m wide, 3 dimensional 11 man huddle featuring the best players of the tournament in Switzerland‘s most frequented location: the Zurich main train station. A 14 tonne place of pilgrimage that was 10 times larger than the wax figures on display at Madame Tussaud‘s in London, Hollywood or Berlin. But every bit as detailed. During the European Championships, the Huddle evolved into a landmark where fans of all nations took millions of pictures and films and celebrated their passion for the game. The Swiss rail authority reported an estimated overall audience of over 13 million people over the course of the three weeks. The Impossible Huddle was launched live on N24, a European news network, and was on major stations throughout the continent within hours. Major news titles such as BBC, Financial Times, Die Welt, Gazetta dello Sport, Le Parisien and NRC Handelsblad featured it on their front pages or online editions. Online communities such as facebook and youtube featured groups and posts honouring the Huddle, as well as user-generated short films inspired by it. And one week before the final, the press declared adidas the winning sports brand of the UEFA EURO 2008. Recognized by 30 % of the audience, as compared with 12 % for competitors, they reported an increase of 50 % in the football apparel sales, earning them an estimated 15 % added market share!
Best Magazine Cover... The June/July cover of Interview was inspired by the fact that the issue was dedicated to the magazine’s founder, Andy Warhol, who would have been 80 years old in August of that year. The magazine chose designer Marc Jacobs as the cover subject because of what he represents: someone creative who, with his work, his collaborations, and his perpetual inventiveness has come to blur the boundaries of art and business in his field, much like Warhol. Co-editorial Director Fabien Baron, photographer Mikael Jansson and stylist Katie Grand worked to design a cover that would not only feel contemporary, but also articulate ideas about Andy’s influence on the culture in a visceral way. The results were poignantly, brilliantly—and appropriately—pop.
Best Mobile Phone Design & Gadget... The iPod Touch has already been featured in our blog. But the iPhone needs it credit! Here is what Apple says about the product: Phone, iPod, Internet, and more. The iPhone 3G with fast 3G wireless technology, GPS mapping, support for enterprise features like Microsoft Exchange, and the new App Store, iPhone 3G puts even more features at your fingertips. And like the original iPhone, it combines three products in one — a revolutionary phone, a widescreen iPod, and a breakthrough Internet device with rich HTML email and a desktop-class web browser. iPhone 3G. It redefines what a mobile phone can do — again.
Best Television Advert...
A truly well produced, creative, eye catching advert for 2008 created by Bartle Bogle Hegarty (BBH)
Best T-Shirt Design... A great use of colour, new and old, with a unique creative flair. Click image for further details.
I know here at IP we have been slow to add new entries to the blog this month, so hopefully the next few instalments will make up for it! This is the first entry of "The Best Design of 2008!” This will be a collection of the best of the best, from artwork, to print, to album covers - if it's great it should be here!
The list is in no particular order...
Best Book Cover...
Designed by Isaac Tobin & Lauren Nassef.
We'll let the work speak for itself! This work is probably one of my personnel favourite book covers of all time. Clean. Simple. Sophisticated. Here are a few words from the creators of the cover...
Tobin:
Most of the credit for this cover should really go to Lauren, my wife and frequent collaborator. When I was assigned this project I knew it had enormous potential. Because the book discusses many ways of thinking about obsession, I wanted to avoid anything too specific (i.e. a stock photo of hand-washing), and thought it would great if I could make the design a result of obsession rather than a depiction of it. My first attempts were made on the computer, but just didn't work — the computer made the repetition meaningless. Lauren and I always discuss ideas for our projects, and we realized that the cover needed to be made by hand. We realized a pinprick drawing technique she had used before could work for this book.
I then designed the cover as if it were type-only and black and white, trying to get the title as big as possible so that the pattern would be clear and the title would still be readable. I gave Lauren a printout of the title type, which she traced with pinpricks. That took a very long time. We then photographed the results, and adjusted the design — I think the pin as a dividing slash (which makes everything come together) was Lauren's idea. Luckily the design was approved, although the author was disappointed that we couldn't afford to actually punch holes in every jacket.
Nassef:
Isaac decided to collaborate with me on this cover after we talked for about two weeks about potential directions for the design. We're married and so are always talking about his books at home.
We knew that the design itself should be obsessive and, thinking of this, I remembered some drawings I made in college using pinpricks. Since they were the most obsessive things I'd ever done, I suggested using the technique for the title.
Isaac chose his custom typeface Attleboro Gothic for the letterforms and then I punched them out of heavy white card. Once we scanned it in and Isaac laid it out, it was clear that the pin needed to be there to emphasize the act of making the letters.
Best Album Cover... Gnarls Barkley second album, The Odd Couple, has been chosen because of it's great non-conformist approach not only to it's music, but to the cover art. The album’s cover reflects their unique urban awareness set with undertones of refreshing electronica and dynamic Brit-pop flavours that is embedded in their music.
Best Flash Website... I do love a well-constructed beautiful flash website. Get The Glass is a fantastic example of one! The best this year I think. Not only because of it's ease of use, but because the graphics are outstanding, with captivating animation and a very slick cool approach. Get The Glass is the work of the California Milk Processor Board and was designed to encourage increased milk consumption by inviting visitors to participate in a comically entertaining Flash based game whose objective is to Get the Glass - of milk of course! Do check out there regular site GotMilk.com it is another great flash website, with outstanding graphics.
We really wanted to add something for free, and with a world of horrid free fonts we found something of quality that just sparkles with beauty. We found this font at booooooom.com where they also voted this No.1. You can download it here.
Best Print Ad...
click image to enlarge (we added the tagline in large to make it easily readable)
After recently acquiring my new iPod Touch I felt it just had to be an entry in our blog. But what to discuss? Maybe the pros and cons of the iPod compared to its competitors, or the annoying way people refer to the machine as an iTouch. Of course not! Lets talk about its astonishing beauty, ease of use, and the fact that they have just now announced you can use it as a phone as well - well sort of! Apart from Mac's ever changing creativity within all of it's products, they always seem to be able to set a standard that there other competitors just seem to merely produce a poor imitation of, and without the class. For example Microsoft’s awful Windows Vista operating system. Apart from containing numerous bugs, the operating system was (unofficially) the answer to Mac's OSX that came out 6 years before the new Windows Vista! Or the epic first iMac (see "We love design! - Design Classics") where every appliance, electrical equipment, etc, copyed it's see-through plastic cover, or even after the iPod all the many poor cheaper looking mp3 players trying to follow it's slick cool look. Let's face it, Macintosh has done it again, the iPod Touch and Phone is just irresistible. Touch screen, ease of navigation, slick rotating windows... beautiful! I wonder how many more products will try and imitate (well the list has already started)! But wait I here you say... the iPod Touch can be used as a Phone!? YES! (and I'm not refering to the iPhone!) Well sort of... I read an article yesterday from ITProPortable.com saying that the iPod Touch can now be used as a virtual mobile phone with the Internet company Truphone.
Truphone have launched a new Wi-Fi application that transforms the music player into a caller device. With its Wi-Fi capability, the new application enables users to make and receive calls through VoIP with other iPod Touch users, Truphone’s Internet telephone service customers, and Google Talk’s messaging service users; eventually, the addition of feature to make or receive calls from landline devices is also there on the cards, the company asserted.
For dialling, the app utilizes a virtual keyboard over the interface of iPod Touch devices, and necessitates the addition of headset integrated with microphone.
The software is available through Apple’s App Store, and as it utilises the Wi-Fi ability of the device, calls made using the VoIP feature are free of charge.
Quoting the move as company’s another step towards becoming an established internet player globally, Truphone’s CEO, Geraldine Wilson said in a statement, “There are a slew of new features we're rolling out for the iPod Touch that will let users call landlines, Skype users or send instant messages. We're talking weeks, not months, before these go live".
Don't you just love it when creativity inspires more creativity!
Designed by Willie Tsang from Imm Living. Here is what they had to say about it.Think of the term "nerd" and you will likely identify this type of individual with a list of visual cues. Ranked highest among these would be the classic thick black frame eyeglasses. Nerds can be found around the world, going against the grain of popular culture. These socially awkward misfits partake in cerebral activities such as academic reading and technical gadgetry.
The bookmark contains an air-filled chamber, half of which is flattened by the weight of a book.
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