Friday, July 17, 2009

"Untooned" characters by Pixeloo

Being a big Photoshop guru, I just had to share these cool and disturbingly realistic "untooned" characters from Pixeloo! Check out Homer Simpson, if he were to have realistic textures added to his face:


Mario is another great one!


Also be sure to check out Stewie from Family Guy, and Jessica Rabbit!

Amazing work!!

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Design Eye Candy

Just had to share a little bit of cool design eye candy that I've come across this week.

Product Design
first up in product design is "Din-ink," designed by Andrea Cingoli, Paolo Emilio Bellisario, Cristian Cellini, and Francesca Fontana from Italy. This incredibly clever idea won them
first prize in the "dining in 2015" contest which I came across on Designboom. It's what I consider one of those "why didn't I think of that?" ideas. Great work!!



Web Design
Second is a very clever website design for Hema. Click on the link and don't click anything...just wait a minute and see what happens! Many thanks to my sister for passing this one on to me!

Film
This I thought was just a beautifully done little video, "Niagra Falls in Motion," by Matthew Wartman. I think any designer can appreciate the motion, colors, timing, and overall beauty! I had taken the drive up to see Niagra Falls many times during the 4 years I lived in Ohio. So glad I got to see it in person while I was living closer to it. I never, however, had the chance to see how beautiful it is at night.

Monday, July 13, 2009

A Break from Design for a Personal Art Project!



I've had this painting sitting on my easel since last summer, when I shot the photo that inspired it at the Hyland Park Reserve a couple miles from my house. Today I finally finished it! It was done with acrylic on stretched canvas and measures 10" x 20". Now I can say I at least did ONE painting this year! I used to do a lot more painting, but as marriage, kids, and work came into my life in full force, I just haven't had the time.



We've enjoyed many wonderful visits to the Hyland Park Reserve and the Richardson Nature Center right here in Bloomington, MN. Once you're on a trail in the reserve, you'd never know you were right in the middle of one of the largest cities in Minnesota. Nature is far as the eye can see, and we always get to see wildlife, big and small!

Up next I have started a mixed media art piece, with the subject matter being a sunset view of the Eiffel Tower that I shot on our trip to Paris this year. I'm determined to do a little art this summer and am glad I was able to carve out a little time today between paid projects!

To see more of my fine art and desing work, check out my portfolio.

Thursday, July 9, 2009

A couple amazing videos

I am a huge fan of animation and stop motion films. Even when I was a little kid, I made my own claymation movies with my family's video camera, and many many little flip book animations. I haven't had the time to do many in my adult years, except for my first attempt at a stop motion "commercial" for my Junk Mail Gems business.

But, I always enjoy seeing other people's work. Here are a couple cool movies involving paper...

This one is an ad done by students for Hewlett Packard
, which I got the link from a friend on Facebook.

From that page I clicked a link to another really beautifully done movie using shredded paper. Must have been an incredible amount of work, but then so is anything done really well!

Thursday, July 2, 2009

Funny Break: Literal Music Videos

Every designer needs a little humor break once in a while! Well, okay, maybe very often. Here's a little entertainment for you...some hilarious literal versions of music videos!

Total Eclipse of the Heart

With Arms Wide Open

Head Over Heels

Daydream Believer

Making Love Out of Nothing at All