My favorite professor, the one who influenced me personally the most, was Michigan-born artist David Barr. He created iconic public sculptures and conceptual art that can be found throughout the world. If you've ever been to Detroit, you've seen his work without knowing it.
From a very young age, the illusion of motion fascinated me.
I would spend hours and hours destroying the books in my parents' library by creating crude, hand-drawn flipbooks in the margins. Pictured below is a rare 1890s sketch of my hands at work during the creative process.
This sort of activity helped set the stage for what would be a career-long pursuit. I tinkered with countless pieces of art that would make up just a moment of entertainment for anyone willing to take notice.
We're all enticed by beautiful patterns, pleasing repetitions and a concisely-delivered story. Here are a few tales that are told in just 12 frames apiece. My favorite is the 3rd horizontal strip from the top. It’s the one of the man happily dancing in place, while passing his severed head to his clone, who does the same ad infinitum.
It is, as all of these are, simply beautiful!
And that brings me to the Zoeflix, which hits the nerve of what I love in so many ways.
1) It’s beautiful to look at and hold 2) It’s made of wood and not plastic 3) It moves and operates by my own force 4) It’s an artistic platform where I can make my very own 12 frame animations 5) It has a great history
The Zoeflix is essentially a Zoetrope device that, when spun, produces an illusion called the phi phenomenon. This is the optical illusion of perceiving a series of still images as a continuous motion when viewed in rapid succession. Read the rest
Growing up, I used to fill my shelves with things I collected in my travels. As my radius of movement was only about 5 miles, what I amassed was pretty lame. Nowadays, thanks to Internet retail, I never have to leave my home and every day is like Christmas.
You may not realize it, but we’re living during the collectable playing card revolution. 10 years ago, I wouldn't have thought about being on a mailing list for collector's decks, but that all changed when I discovered the green Monarchs from Theory11.
It’s pretty fancy, and it’d better be. It has to live up to the claim of being “The deck that’s fit for a King”. The box features gold foil on an embossed, durable card stock (gathered from sustainable forests), and feels very substantial.
The design is uncluttered, with striking intertwining serpents.
I’m just fascinated with their foil-stamping dies—and envious of the designer’s ability to make something so balanced, intricate and beautiful.
When you open the box, the first thing you’ll see is the Latin phrase - Cerca Trova – Seek and you shall find.
It’s the same messaging that’s found in their Contraband deck, but don’t hold it against them. I think it’s good that these decks nod to each other, because they feel almost as if they’re distant cousins.
If you look closely on the backs of the cards you’ll see another Latin phrase – Esto perpetue – let it be eternal. The phrase can be traced back to a man named Paolo Sarpi, who used it as his dying declaration in 1623. Read the rest
I think we’re all pretty spoiled these days when it comes to bluetooth streaming technology. I can remember waiting in line for one of the first portable, wireless speakers and being disappointed when I finally got it. The syncing was painful, the music cut in and out and the sound quality was iffy.
Since then, I’ve been on the lookout for a newer, more portable solution but I had to change my expectations. When the tech first came out, our hopes were far too great. We were all looking for a speaker that could fit in the palm of our hand and sound like a home theater system. The iHome Kineta K1 is tiny and it sounds pretty good to boot. But, don’t hold your breath thinking you’re going to match the $2500.00 Kefs in your living room.
I’ve been watching the K1 and I’ve seen them priced anywhere from $89.99 - 149.99. At the lower price points it's a perfect speaker for me because of the way I handle my free time around the house.
I have a very short attention span and constantly change locations like Billy from the Family Circus Sunday comics.
What I love most about the K1 is that when it's set up and my phone is within 10 meters of it, they auto-sync. My other wireless speakers have to be manually reconnected every day.
Another great thing about the K1 is that after using it for a few weeks, I haven't had to charge it much - which is saying a lot because each aspect of my life is tied to charging my phone. Read the rest
I buy an awful lot of toys under the guise of sharing them with my niece and nephew. The truth is, of course, that I’d get them even if I weren’t an uncle. In particular, I love modular puzzle games that make you think in strange ways—and I’m especially fond of the award winning Gravity Maze. Read the rest
I've been collecting playing cards since I was a kid. After amassing enough to choke Godzilla, I have a thing or two to say about the ones that stand out to me.
When I used to open a pack of cards, the first one I was drawn to was the Ace of Spades. It was always the low-hanging fruit of awesomeness in a new deck, but as time went on, my tastes changed. There’s so much more going on on the backs of playing cards, the court cards, and on the box itself.
A London based designer, Joe White, took a full year to jam as much symbolism into his Contraband deck as possible. It’s so stuffed with content that it feels like it’s a treasure map to nowhere—and I think that’s the point.
You’re supposed to create the journey yourself.
If you look closely, you’ll find skulls, pirate symbols, the eye of Horus, hanging keys, the holy grail, Eve’s apple and the gates of heaven. I thought these things were thrown in willy-nilly at first, but when I took the time to break things down, I saw a unified story.
The box is covered with delicate embossing, foil stamping and interwoven designs. An "X", which literally marks the spot in the center of the box, spawns a cacophony of imagery.
On the X itself, we have the Latin phrasing Carpe Noctem – seize the night, and Carpe Diem — seize the day. I put a lot of thought against this and here’s what I’ve come up with – There's an elite group within the deck called the court cards. Read the rest
Lumino City is a charming, hand-crafted point-and-click adventure that’ll make you smile. It’s a cozy world of clever puzzles and light storyline where you hunt for your kidnapped Grandpa while repairing the world around you.
It’s now available on Steam and on your iOS device.
Did I mention this is a hand-crafted? Even if I did, it’s worth saying again because at first glance you probably wouldn’t know it. London based game company, State of Play, took 3 years to lovingly create a 10 foot tall physical set entirely out of paper, balsa, miniature lights and motors.
They then filmed transitions from one area to another to achieve an interesting and cinematic gaming experience.
Lumino City reminds me a bit of the claymation game Neverhood from the 90‘s where camera movements and focus shifts wasn’t programmatic but created from real cameras in physical environments.
The working set pieces are just part of an undertaking that was clearly a labor of love.
And it’s one of those projects I wish I was a part of.
I love making stuff – but more than that I love making stuff that comes to life.
Once State Of Play created and filmed their whimsical set, they plopped 2D animations on top of it – and what they now have is a unique and delightful wonderland to us to explore with Lumi, the main character.
The movement of Lumi works and looks beautiful because the designers elegantly keep the plane that she travels in crisp and the others hazy. Read the rest
On June 30, 2001, a woman brought a strange sculpture onto the Antiques Roadshow for appraisal called The Kangaroo Bird. She paid $60.00 for it and wasn’t she excited to find out it was an original Dr. Seuss sculpture valued at $25,000?!
The Kangaroo Bird was part of a project that Ted Geisel, Dr. Seuss, called The Seuss System of Unorthodox Taxidermy. He created these heads to be displayed in bookshops around New York to promote his new book And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street. They are very striking and unforgettable. I dare you. Just try to not remember The Kangaroo Bird.
I got my first glimpse of Dr. Seuss’s Unorthodox Taxidermy while in Kauai, Hawaii, in 2000. I was strolling through an art gallery and nearly dropped my ice cream cone when I saw the Blue Green Abalard.
It was beautiful. It was unique. And it was something I just couldn't take with me. What I assumed was an original Seuss sculpture, was actually a one of 99, limited edition, hand-painted, cast resin reproductions. You can sometimes find the Blue Green Abalard on Ebay with a buy it now price of about $20,000 - and this is just a copy. Isn’t that something?
Anyway, I talked about the Blue Green Abalard for the next 5 years to whoever would listen to me. I was haunted by the missed opportunity to have something so interesting and then I met my wife. She had just learned about a Secret Art of Dr. Read the rest
If there’s one thing I just love, it’s tiny objects that do amazing things… and the great big objects that do amazing things, too.
What I’m about to share with you is a perfect combination of both, and just knowing about it makes me feel like I’m connected to Her Majesty’s Secret Service.
Believe it or not, a company called Shomer-tec has created a compass out of…wait for it… a nickel! It’s the first item in a collection that will be invaluable on secret missions I’ll never go on.
If you loop a piece of thread around the groove of the coin and suspend it freely, the “heads” side will always point to magnetic north. It doesn’t matter what angle you start at, or where you move in space. Jefferson’s head will always show you the way.
Sure, this tiny thing is amazing. But it’s even more impressive when you consider that it partners with the world’s largest object. By this I mean, of course, Planet Earth itself.
In grade school, we learned that the Earth has a magnetic field that attracts the north side of a compass towards the North pole. Something slipped my mind since magnets 101…
I forgot that the North Pole would have to have a magnetic pull of south to make the nickel face it, because of the "opposites" rule.
Here’s a tongue twister for you: The north pole has a south pole pull while the south pole has a north pole pull.
Nicely done! Read the rest
Did Ridley Scott plan the most brutally delicious revenge against JPL or am I just making this stuff up? Read the rest
All Hail Lumio!
If you want a stylish lamp that turns on in a cool way, that you can carry around in your backpack and disguises itself as a book when not in use, then look no further.
You’ll fall in love with Lumio at first sight and the fact that it shines for 8 hours a charge, is a dream come true for nighttime readers like me.
There are so many words to describe this masterpiece of invention –
What do you think of the word inspiring?
How about the word versatile?
Does the word surprising float your boat?
All those words and more are appropriate for this little beauty and here’s a special little trick I just discovered. There are powerful, hidden magnets in the Lumio that allow me to hang it on metal objects.
When not in use, it looks just like an every-day book that’s been super-glued to my desk - nothing strange at all right? What I’ve found is that when people come into my office, it’s inevitable that they’ll ask about it.
What I like to do is not say a thing.
Instead I slowly open the book, which turns on the light.
The backside of the book also has a magnet that holds it in place. And by the time it’s open, my guests are asking where they can get one for themselves and I can’t say I blame them. It’s just awesome and the creator, Max Gunawan, deserves 2 corner offices because of it. Read the rest
I have to admit - when I first saw the Swagway, I thought I’d never get on it. The very idea of finding balance on an electric skateboard seemed too difficult and I was certain I’d feel like a goofball.
The thing is, I was wrong and everyone who sees the Swagway in person wants to give it a shot. And while they're on it, they can't help but smile when they do.
When I received mine, I was excited to find it pre charged and ready to go. The Swagway self-balances by using a silent, internal gyroscope. The acceleration is controlled by sensors that are triggered by position changes of your center of gravity.
When you lean forward, it’ll sense your actions and accelerate. The more you lean, the faster you go (up to 10 MPH).
Turning is a little bit different. When you want to turn right, you just shift your weight a bit onto your left foot.
For me, the first few minutes were all about just standing still on the Swagway. I was pretty wobbly at first but soon I was able to slowly ride around our office.
After two days, I could casually ride around the office and slalom through coworkers. Even though I was way better at it, I still needed to think about every move I made.
But then at some point it happened. I became one with the Swagway and learned to just think where I wanted to go and my body naturally made the micro-adjustments to get me there. Read the rest
Apparently I’ve had crummy doorbells for the past 45 years and didn’t even know it. It took visiting a good friend’s home to find out what I was missing. When I got there, I was greeted by what looked like a mini-HAL.
The creepy thing was that I didn’t even touch the device before hearing my friend's voice come through it. He was a hundred feet away and knew I was there because of a built in motion detector. When I began walking up his driveway, the RING detected me and pinged Juan on his phone. He then had the option of ignoring me, simply viewing my actions or talking to me.
Though I couldn’t see him, we were having a full conversation as if we were talking on a speakerphone. But the fact that Juan could have been anywhere in the world and know that I was approaching his home, makes this so much more than a speakerphone or intercom.
When Juan FINALLY opened his front door, he showed me the recorded video of me walking up and talking into the device. I have to say I was amazed by how good I looked.
The RING’s video is HD and is recorded at 720p at 30 FPS. The field of view is 180 degrees and the RING has night-vision! My awesome iPhone 6 doesn’t have night vision!
One of the first things you'll do when you get your Ring device is set the sensitivity of the motion sensor. This is so that if you have kids playing in your yard, the RING doesn’t keep pinging you over and over. Read the rest
You’ll have tons of fun playing this well-balanced board game even if you never win - and I should know.
Getting my wife to play games with me is a bit like pulling teeth. To increase my odds of making it happen, I normally promise to light a fire and make a cozy evening out of it.
Here, you can see the lengths I went through last weekend to get my game on. On this particular night, we played The Duke!
It’s a 2-player strategy game that takes place on a simple board of 36 squares. The game is a bit like chess – only better. The mechanics are constantly in flux and it forces you to think in a way that’s very different from other games.
Like chess, players take turns controlling the movement of troops on the playing field. The player's movement options are graphically portrayed on the front and back of each troop but only the side that’s facing up is in play. Each time you move a troop, it's flipped and the movement rules change.
Each player begins with 3 "stock" troops a sack of mixed wooden tiles that'll be chosen from later.
Stock troop #1 - The Duke. He’s like the King in Chess. It’s important to keep him safe at all times because once he’s captured - you lose. The Duke can move clear across the board like a Rook.
Stock troops 2 & 3 – The Footmen. These are like pawns in chess. Read the rest
I love marveling at good type design because I know how much effort it takes to make things look just right.
To me, there’s no deck of playing cards that uses intertwining fonts better than the Type Deck. It took designer Chris Cavill over 5 months to get this project off the ground and I think it was worth the effort.
Each suit of the deck has been uniquely handled, while maintaining a cohesive style throughout.
Usually, the lion’s share of time and effort in a deck of cards is given to the court cards. But not in the Type Deck.
Though the illustrations of the royal cards are crisp and beautiful…
They are pushed back and subdued to let the typography be the star.
No matter what Chris says, these cards were never meant to be played with. They were meant to be studied.
And when I grow up as a graphic designer I hope to create something that hits typographic nerves like this deck does.
But for now - I'll just have to be content with what I have.
When you think about it, the design of playing cards is ridiculously complicated and to create a truly unique deck could take many months. It’s one thing to take an existing template and alter it a bit and it’s another thing all together to rework each element from scratch.
Tyler Deeb of MISC. GOODS CO. has designed a deck of cards from the ground up and it has a whole lot to say. Every court card, every symbol and boarder has gotten as much attention as any deck I’ve ever seen. It’s clear that this was a labor of love and will act as his calling card for years to come.
To me, this deck is just chock full of story and I wonder if anyone else is seeing what I’m seeing.
There's so much to figure out when laying out a deck of cards and it all starts with the box that contains it. In this case, if you look closely, you’ll find some very thoughtful touches.
Firstly, besides the beautiful silver foil printing, there is an embossing of the message “Do nothing out of selfish ambition”. It’s a bible verse from Philippians 2:3-8 and the thing is, while this deck is one of the most ambitious ones I’ve ever seen, it certainly isn’t selfish. It’s a gift to us.
While I’m not going to go into every little detail of what I’m reading into here, I will share a playful contradiction that pops up when you look closely.
This contradiction sets the stage for what’s to come. Read the rest
