Posts filed under 'That's Hot'
It was so hard to come up with a list this year because most of 2009 was such a down year for good music. It seems like most of the music industry runs on hype now and the legit mainstream stuff gets bought up quickly and inserted into Cadillac commercials.
Still, it wasn’t all bad so here’s my list for the best new music of 2009. I’m not entirely sure the order is right but I tried to go off of how much I listened to them over the last year.
09. Yo La Tengo - Popular Songs
08. Jay-Z - Blueprint III
07. Raekwon - Only Built 4 Cuban Linx II
06. Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest
05. Black Lips - 200 Million Thousand
04. Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion
03. The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - S/T
02. Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears - Tell ‘Em What Your Name Is!
01. Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
Like I said, pretty crummy stuff this year. Leave me note if I’ve missed anything or if there is something out there I gotta listen to. Hopefully 2010 restores some of my faith in the industry.
January 20th, 2010
This year was pretty much dominated by Noah Lennox of Panda Bear and Animal Collective fame. Some people out there just aren’t ready for Animal Collective yet and I understand that. For me, they represent one of the most consistent acts making music who continue to put out great records with vision and Noah is at the forefront of that. Great year for music–Here’s how they broke down this year for me:
01. Panda Bear - Person Pitch
02. !!! - Myth Takes
03. Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
04. Animal Collective - Strawberry Jam
05. Andrew Bird - Armchair Apocrypha
06. Of Montreal - Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer?
07. Black Milk - Popular Demand
08. The National - Boxer
09. Iron & Wine - The Shepherd’s Dog
10. Pop Levi - The Return to Form Black Magick Party
11. Interpol - Our Love to Admire
13. Pharoahe Monch - Desire
12. Arcade Fire - Neon Bible
14. Menomena - Friend And Foe
15. Future of the Left - Curses
(All links go straight to the iTunes store.) 
Please let me know what great albums I’m missing! I hate knowing that there are killer records out there that I haven’t even heard. See ya in ‘08!
December 28th, 2007
The recent news out of Boston has shown that people are starting to push the notion of using new technologies for good old fashioned vandalism (see Graffiti). Enter Graffiti Research Lab. They recently have come up with a system that allows you to “paint” a building with a military-grade laser pointer, and then have your movements projected onto the side of a building. You have to watch the video, it’s unbelievably cool. Honestly, everything they do is unbelievably cool.
The Big Bonus:
Arcade Art Library - Hands down the best resource on the internet for classic arcade marquees, bezels, fonts and logos. It’s really an interesting community of people and worth checking out if the word Galaga means anything to you.
The Canadian Design Resource - I’ve got my eye on you Canada.
Joseph Kosinski - He’s the creative guy resposible for that fantastic Gears of War meets Tears for Fears commercial.
Spinto Band (Oh Mandy) - OK, I have to admit I love this music video and pop song. Great idea and well executed. So catchy!
February 21st, 2007
Bored? Need something to entertain you for a while? Well, I made a short list of some awesome flash games (with stars for added blogging equity)! They’re all fun and simple to play but beat my high score and we can’t be friends anymore.
NEO GEO Bowling 
I used to waste quarters on this at the bowling alley when I was a kid (how ironic). This is an exact converstion of that game and it’s still tons of fun for me. Brings back a lot of fond memories of me owning my friends.
Tower Defense 
The aim of the game is to kill the creeps before they reach the end of the maze, do this by building attacking towers on the grass around the maze. Yep, there’s some strategy involved.
Line Rider 
This is more of a toy than a game but it’s extremly creative and creative, simple games are usually the most enteraining. Using your imagination is always fun.
Chronon 
The purpose of this game is to let the little yellow dwarf out of a center cage. The master of this house will come back at 7pm. Time is your weapon.
Sesam Katapult 
Catipult a little Norwegian guy as far as you can. I’m sure there is pleanty lost in translation in this game but it doesn’t make it any less fun so have at it.
Sushi Samurai 
This is a copy of the old arcade game Burger Time except instead of making burgers you’re making sushi! Delicious, delicious sushi!
RED 
Another simple game that is really well executed. It’s similar to Missle Command if you’ve ever played that. I hope someday to be involved in a project like this.
January 17th, 2007
I’ve been playing around with building a flash video player that matches the site. Here’s what I came up with:
The video is the opening to the movie
Master of the Flying Guillotine, one of my all-time favorite kung-fu movies. They just don’t make title squences like this anymore which got me thinking about some of my other favorites. I found some that you might be interested in.
To Kill a Mocking Bird (1962) - Saul Bass
Panic Room (2002) - The Picture Mill
Thank You for Smoking (2005) - Shadowplay Studio
Casino (1995) - Saul Bass
Charade (1963) - Maurice Binder
Catch Me If You Can (2002) - Florence Deygas
Alien (1979) - R. Greenberg
January 3rd, 2007
Anthony Yankovic III is a fantastic illustrator from right here in Columbus. He just got picked up by Alien Workshop Skateboards in Dayton to design a new line of pro decks. In his own words, here’s what insipired him to be an artist:
“Art is deeply rooted in my family history. My great, great,great, grandfather brought the first paint brush over to America on the Mayflower. During the voyage he feared that the fine hogs-haired bristles would be damaged on board the crowded vessel. He had no other choice but to hold the brush above his head like a torch during the trip’s entirety. Due to the poot living conditions and lack of blood flow, his arm fell ill, turned black and died. Upon reaching land his fellow countrymen were in dire need of extravagant oil paintings the only tool of the trade was stuck in the blackened death grip of my great, great, great grandfather’s deceased hand. After little discussion they lopped his arm off with a wooden axe. Still unable to remove the brush, the resorted to stuffing and bronzing the limb. The appendage-brush became that of legend and has since been put on display in the parking lot of the Akron Art Museum.”
So there you have it - makes perfect sense. You can check out Anthony’s and many other talented artist’s (like Elephont) work at Alien Workshop.
Also! -
James Jean is at it again with a poster design for the upcoming
Nike advertising campaign
Space Race 2020. I have got to get a copy of
this poster when it comes out. It’s amazing how talented this guy is.
September 28th, 2006
Every once in a while you see a site that sticks with you for a while or in my case sticks with me enough to actually dust off the old blog and write. The new Nike Air site, my friend Kyle tipped me to, is one of them. It’s got it all, it’s cutting-edge, it’s clever, it’s emersing. I can’t remember the last pair of Nike shoes I bought but I also can’t remember the last time I was disappointed with anything Nike has offered on the web. I hope the rest of the internet catches up.
Fresh Links:
Ben Grasso - This guy really deserves his own post. Exploding house art!
2006 Biomedical Image Awards - It’s all about perspective.
Daniel Krall - Great illustration work.
The Sea Orbiter - Now that’s gansta.
Time Fountain - This is a really smart idea. Watch the video.
August 11th, 2006
So I went to Comfest last weekend and had pretty good time. I thought for the most part the music was way better this year than I’ve heard there in a long time. Two bands in particular stick out in my mind from this weekend. The first is the Lab Rats, they have a pretty good sound for being only two members strong. You can check out their song Ritalin for yourself.
The other band was Mors Ontologica. These guys are the type of band I can feel really good about supporting because they rocked Comfest pretty hard and they give out all their albums online for free. They have a pretty good sound too but the live stuff sounded so much better. Check out their song Demon Inc. and always support your local scene.
June 27th, 2006
Hello internet friends. I’ve been pretty busy the last month but things are beging to slow down for me and with the help of my new computer at home I’ll be drawing some more things and updating this site once again in the coming days. I’ve got lots of stuff to show and some freelance work that I might put up here as well. Stay tuned true believers.
Mega Linkage:
USSR Posters - Tons and tons of inspirational stuff right here.
Billy Corgan Steel Cage Match! - Not really but close.
Powers of Ten - Charles and Ray, who loves you? I do.
High Dynamic Range Photography - Is the new hotness.
Da Vinci Code Title Sequence - I know some people at OSU who would love this.
Platinum FMD - Photoillustration rocks.
The Black Angels - Passover
May 23rd, 2006
Jacqui Oakley is an illustrator who was born in Canada but spent most of her younger years in the countries Bahrain, Zambia, and Libya. In her own words, her style is “a fusion of the ornamental & aged qualities of folk-art with the elements contemporary design & commercial culture.” I think she hit the nail on the head and I really dig her work.
Also!
Plastic Kid - Simple, yet inspired installation work and more.
Joshuaink - Prettiest templated blog I’ve ever seen. Had to give some props.
Batman Onomatopeyas - Holy hieroglyphics Batman!
Jonathan Weiner - A complex conspiracy
Wolfmother - Dimension EP
April 17th, 2006
I know what you’re thinking, why is there tons and tons of illustration stuff on this site and so little actual design work? Well, you’re right and that sucks. I don’t want to confuse anyone, first and foremost I’m a graphic designer. That means a lot to me. I wouldn’t consider myself an illustrator, just interested in illustration. Drawing and other basic handskills are some things that may set designers apart from one another but the most important aspects of what makes a designer effective are simply the fundmentals, creativity, and consistancy.
The above list is of some of my current favorite designers, firms, magazines, and communities in the world of visual communication. All of these sites have a grasp on the fundamentals, weither it’s composition, color theory, typography, grids systems, branding or anything else it’s all right there.
March 27th, 2006
I know a lot of people that really dig on Flying Fortress and why not? These Germans are sickening. Most noteably you’ve probably seen their work in the form of vinyl Teddy Troops but they also have done work for Hessen Mob Skateboards and more recently, Stüssy. I just love their style. They seem to have a masterful control over line weights which gives most of their work a really heavy and dominant feel. Add this to their unhealthy obession with bears it makes for some beautiful and unique stuff.
Free Lunch:
Andy’s Val Gourmet - Chacarron
THIS IS FUN TO MAKE A BLOG ON THE COMPUTER WEBSITE
Jan Von Holleben Photography
Mr. Mucho
The Willy Wonka Skate Ramp
Tokidoki
Sam Prekop - Who’s Your New Professor?
March 15th, 2006
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