CREATIVE WORK ENVIRONMENTS - Do you work in one? Wood is both universal and unique. No other material is as deeply embedded in the history, culture and life of humans worldwide as wood, yet every single piece of wood is unique. The color tone, texture, durability, flexibility and even sound qualities of different tree species have puzzled and challenged artists, architects, designers, builders and artisans for thousands of years. Still today, nothing matches wood in versatility or beauty, so it is great to see how today’s designers and architects continue to face the challenge of wood, and use it creatively to interpret sleek, modern designs. They use wood to meet their current needs and desires for which wood is ideally suited. People also look for sustainable alternatives, eco-friendly options, greener solutions. We especially love the influence of Scandinavian and Japanese traditions that we can detect in today’s wood architecture and design. Scandinavian building and design traditions are based solidly on the use of wood.
Reading the Web - Ideas Blog 101 Awesome Portfolio Sites | DesignM.ag Designers and developers are growing in numbers and plenty of these folks have outstanding portfolios. The common advantage of the Internet is that anybody from anywhere in the world can check out your projects during any time of the day! If you wish to land more freelance work then I would recommend taking a peek at your current portfolio to see if anything could be updated. And to help with building ideas for your own website, I have collected 200 various portfolios of graphics designers, developers, writers, and other digital creatives. If you like this post you might also like our post 35 mobile responsive portfolio layouts Mathew Helme Mat has one of the nicest portfolio sites I’ve seen. Aaron C-T Clean and lightweight is a great way to get started. Becky Murphy Becky is a writer and illustrator who has created some great pieces and her own book. Nidhi Chanani One of my favorite illustrators is Nidhi because of her style and context. Vitor Kirk Wallace Mary Fran Wiley Lilondra Ospina D.
Creative Think 50 Amazing Gig Posters Sure to Inspire // wellmedicated The gig poster scene isn’t exactly the best kept secret among music fiends like myself. It is a tradition that started in the 60′s and is still going strong. Nowadays, the majority of indie bands have a growing collection of poster art that is just too incredible to simply throw away once the show has ended. Not surprisingly, this has led to the gig poster being something of a collectors item for music fanatics everywhere. The following are 50 hand picked gig posters whose creativity and imagination blew me away. Rilo Kiley Designer: Lure Design Inc Les Savy Fav Designer: Cody Fennell Devendra Banhart Designer: Spike Press The National Broken Social Scene Designer: The Small Stakes My Morning Jacket Designer: Andrio Abero Mates Of State Andrew Bird Designer: Gina Kelly The Decemberists Designer: Little Jacket Animal Collective Designer: Delicious Design League Deerhoof The Shins Designer: Kevin Tong …And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead Designer: Dave Conrey We Are Scientists Designer: Jonathan Schmitt Stars
~ synthesis ~ wish jar April 15th, 2014 I recently said no to a contest featuring my books in a popular teen mag. The prize was some postcards of mine that were completed by celebrities. This week I read an interesting article that helped me to relax my “anti-celebrity” stance somewhat, (I believe the author is Alain de Botton, who founded the school). “Rather than try to suppress our love of celebrity, we ought to channel it in optimally intelligent and fruitful directions. Aahhh, yes. Let’s also celebrate our own unique thoughts, perspectives and gifts! For a good example of promoting solid role models, (and a genuine voice) I highly recommend Rookie Mag, they have been doing this very well for a few years now! (Maybe I should revisit the contest idea, with a new approach.
creative writing prompts . com ideas for writers The Book Cover Archive How to Do What You Love January 2006 To do something well you have to like it. That idea is not exactly novel. We've got it down to four words: "Do what you love." The very idea is foreign to what most of us learn as kids. And it did not seem to be an accident. The world then was divided into two groups, grownups and kids. Teachers in particular all seemed to believe implicitly that work was not fun. I'm not saying we should let little kids do whatever they want. Once, when I was about 9 or 10, my father told me I could be whatever I wanted when I grew up, so long as I enjoyed it. Jobs By high school, the prospect of an actual job was on the horizon. The main reason they all acted as if they enjoyed their work was presumably the upper-middle class convention that you're supposed to. Why is it conventional to pretend to like what you do? What a recipe for alienation. The most dangerous liars can be the kids' own parents. Bounds How much are you supposed to like what you do? Sirens This is easy advice to give.
Greedy Hen Brainiac - Ideas from academia Today Vladimir Putin signed legislation that officially annexed Crimea into Russia. His actions in Ukraine over the last three weeks have prompted a slew of articles that try to guess at what the Russian leader is thinking, including a piece two Sundays ago in Ideas, "Putin's Long Game? Meet the Eurasian Union.” For more perspective on the inner-workings of Putin’s mind, last week I interviewed Zachary Shore, a historian of international conflicts who specializes in analyzing why historical actors act the way they do. His newest book, “A Sense of the Enemy: The High-Stakes History of Reading Your Rival’s Mind,” offers several concepts that are useful for trying to divine Putin’s motives. IDEAS: In your new book you argue we go wrong when we try to understand current events by looking for historical patterns. SHORE: People want to find patterns, it’s a natural human tendency. IDEAS: If historical patterns aren’t helpful, what ways of thinking are? SHORE: Pattern breaks.
Fecal Face - Ian Francis Interview This England based artist had his first U.S. solo show @BLK/MRKT in 2007 and sold it out. We've been meaning to interview him for awhile. Ian Francis was born in 1979 in Bristol, England, and graduated from the University of the West of England with a degree in Illustration. His work concentrates on the particulars of modern experiences things like television, world events, celebrities, and day-to-day living. He held his first US solo show at BLK/MRKT in 2007. Describe your process of creating a new piece. I spend a lot of time watching TV/films, reading books and looking around the internet... How would you describe your style? I normally describe what I do as mixed media painting... the idea is to get different kinds of marks to work off of each other - so sometimes I'll paint/draw fairly accurately, then work quite loosely on a section, then break up elements of print on another section. What brought you to Bristol? What do you love most about it? When are you the most productive? Music?