Amazing Animation

Norman Wilkinson

It was the British artist and naval officer Norman Wilkinson who to elude detection by German U-Boats, decided to paint hulls of his naval fleet with geometric patterns and shapes to confuse the Germans on where the ships were headed. As TwistedSifter states - "Then their torpedoes will be shot in vain because they thought you zigged when you really zagged."
Unfortunately today only black-and-white photos exist. Here's some of our favorites:

http://www.woostercollective.com/index.php?page=2

Recent change in design for Tropicana

Recently Tropicana changed the design of its cartons, altering the design from ideas based images (which reflected the fresh nature of tropicana's products in a fun and interesting way), to boring imagery of a glass of orange juice and some standard type. Needless to say the design went down terribly with its customers, which inevitably lead to Tropicana changing the design back to the original. Showing once again that change is usually a good thing, but not always. If its not broke, it probably doesn't need fixing.

image via http://www.intouch-labels.com

Decode exhibition London

This is a picture from the Decode exhibition at the V & A in London. Although the exhibition was relatively small, there were many installations crammed in all of which were interesting and current. This particular piece filmed your actions for 3 seconds and played it on loop within a sequence of other peoples reactions. It was great fun to participate in and to see how other people responded (many were ridiculous and hilarious).

Safe For Work Porn

Not particularly anything to do with design, but it is a brilliant and hilarious example of appropriated moving image.

Jan Vormann's website

This is a screen-shot showing Jan Vormann's website. I chose to include it because of its diversity over the style and function of other websites. It has no traditional communicative devices so that you have to find your own way through and explore each page until you find what you are looking for. The visual layout is simple and directly relates to the 'Dispatchwork' series. Another interesting aspect is how he chooses to change the layout occasionally, showing that nothing should be set in stone and should always be questioned and altered. I am in love with the work and the way of thinking that Jan communicates, in my opinion he is one of the most interesting artists of our time.

Jan can be found at http://www.Janvormann.com

Bag Monsters - Joshua Allen Harris

This is another great example of a simple installation idea. The heat vents emitting hot air cause the bags to inflate into the shape of the monster. There's something beautiful and inspiring about these kind of installations, creating an artistic use for something which has no other use than its intended function is fascinating to me. Doing these kind of installations opens your eyes to things you would not normally notice.

Street Art

I came across this while researching urban installations for my FMP. Closely related to the depth perception work by Georges Rousse, this work uses the same principles but is carried out in the urban environment. The paintings are laid out so that from a specific point the work can be seen to have depth, while from another it is distorted and stretched. Again the work which must go into the design and execution of these paintings is astounding.

Guerilla Gardening

Guerilla Gardening is a relatively new collective which encourages people to go into the urban environment and plant flowers in unusual places. I like this idea as it is something which is open to everyone to do and not just the artist. It is also interesting how the border between what can be classed as graffiti is blurred as the guerilla aspect usually has negative connotations, yet the planting of flowers is a completely ethcial aspect.

Creative Fencing

This is yet another aspect of research into the urban environment. When looking at interesting aspects of the environment which can be altered I came across fences. Usually existing as barriers, fences have no other function. As they are usually shaped in a grid of some sort there may be a way to make them communicate something using typography. Here are some examples of how other artists have tackled this.

(www.heapsgood.wordpress.com)

Jan Vormann

Jan Vormann is an artist I was referred to by a classmate while trying to decide what to do for my FMP. His work is fun and interesting, and is based heavily on ideas of childhood and nostalgia. This particular one entitled 'Dispatchwork' is an almost futile attempt at repairing damaged or weathered walls with lego of different colours. The reason it could be classed as futile is because the lego doesn't make any structural difference, and there is way to many holes and damaged structures for him alone. Yet the nostalgic and colourful effect it has on the viewer (and availability for anyone to do) has inspired people to go out and do it themselves. This is probably the best and most beautiful idea I have ever come across, and I will be messaging Jan soon with a questionairre to inspire me further.

Guerilla Marketing

As being interested in anything 'guerilla' related, I am always on the lookout for examples of work which responds in this way. Other examples of guerilla design can be seen on my previous blog 'codex alimentarious'. I especially like the 'bottom' one as it is hilarious and would definitely function as a great tool for advertising purposes. I found these while researching into my FMP.

Skater Tetris!

Not much to do with design really, but definately worth a watch. I think I like this idea mostly because of the collaborative element. Its fun, simple and interesting. Check it out.
Via heapsgood.com

Louis Wain

Louis Wain is somebody I have only recently discovered, but from what I have read he was an artist who was obsessed with painting cats. What I find interesting is the use of colour and geometric shapes, its almost impossible to imagine how he felt or his reasons for dong what he did, but its also incredibly intriguing. Apparently he had Asperger's syndrome, which gradually got worse over time, causing his work to become more obsessive and colourful.

Images via www.seancasio.wordpress.com

A really, really good idea!

Good Ideas seem to be a recurring theme for my blog (as they should be) but it is becoming more obvious how it is not just design that interests me, as long as the idea is good it is good for me. Based on the idea that different levels of water within bottles make different notes, these guys have gone one step further and made a hybrid using a remote controlled car. Basically, car goes straight with beater attached, bottles have the precise amount of water to make specific note, car plays music with bottles. The choice of Mario as the tune is also a great choice due to values of nostalgia.

Shadow Art

When I first saw these I was convinced they were not real (they were actually that good). The amount of time and effort that must have gone into each one is insane. A light is directed onto a pile of rubbish which uses a wall as a background for the shadow which is created. The main things which interest me about this project is the way the work has almost two functions and dimensions to it. Physically it is two pieces of work, one being the pile of rubbish and the other being the shadow which is created. I guess what interests me the most is the way something (which has no use and looks horrible) can have an ulterior effect due to the way it is presented. Bad instantly being transformed into good.

Alex Grey

Subliminal advertising techniques

Turn it upside down and cover up the head

Indian Superman

This is the craziest thing I have ever seen in my whole life.
I guess you would call it a pastiche.
I call it hilarious.

Something my friend noticed on a can of Tango

It quite clearly says TWAT!

I don't think they have done this on purpose, but there again its in my blog and people may be talking about it so maybe they have? Who knows?