ORANGE

http://unlimited.orange.co.uk

this image shows the loading screen of a section of the latest orange web site. being very simple and very orange, it reminds me of the old lucozade advert. most of the phone company websites are functional, but always seem dull. this breaks away from the norm, being very simplistic yet still as informative. a lovely site and a fresh way to advertise orange products.

INTERACTIVE DRAWINGS

by Henrik.

these drawings (with a little help from Photoshop) interact with the creator and the viewer. each one has a twist which flips the image from seeming 2 dimensional to being 3D.

an amazing idea which works really well.
i found a collection of them here

www.humoric.net/2008/09/17/14-amazing-interactive-drawings/

some of which you have to really study before realising the contrast between reality and fantasy.

HELLOSOURSALLY.COM

a lovely website made for promoting a frozen yogurt brand in the US. even the loading screen is nice to watch.

it then takes you to the main site, where you are greeted by a big tub of yogurt, there are also instruction on how to navigate.

you can guide sally around with the cursor guiding the balloon where you want her to go.


it's a lovely and simple site done in an illustrative style. the music becomes a bit annoying, but at first suits the design of the site. there's something about it which seems organic and fresh. the few colours that are used are very bright and natural, and the white back ground helps to suggest purity. its quite girly i guess, but well worth a visit.

www.hellosoursally.com

DEREK BACON

this image, which on his website is called 'the horse and the cow from the dog heads', is an example of how Bacon combines illustration with photography and collage. the effect being a confusing jumble of reality and imagination. his images are always strange, but done in a photographic style, making them seem like a record of a moment which actually happened. i don't normally like clean and perfect pictures which are heavily manipulated, but Bacon has a very innovative and unique style, and his subject matter is always entertaining.
www.derekbacon.com

EFFEKTIVE DESIGN

rubbish name, good ideas.
the guy behind this is Greig Anderson. he takes object such as a Spirograph, featured in the above project and celebrates it using badge designs.

another interesting project involves cassette tapes.

these are sent in tape cases.
a nice and simple idea which would appeal to everyone.

www.effektivedesign.co.uk

CHRISSIE ABBOTT

i found this images whilst browsing Chrissie's website (www.chrissieabbott.co.uk). it shows a typeface which was inspired by the smoking ban of july last year.

i found this interesting. do culture and politics influence design as much as design can influence culture and politics?

this typeface looks really quite fun, when smoking and the ban is far from fun for most people, and the health implications of smoking are seriously un-fun.

still, used in the right context this would be really effective.

KYLE BEAN

this Brighton based illustrator and designer makes, as he says, 'things' out of anything he can find. his works include an animation of pencils titled 'un-made', in which the pencils slowly return to where they came from, and form a tree. his most recognised piece is called 'the future of books'you can see the process he went through to create this at www.kylebean.co.uk
the idea is brilliant, bringing technology in a full circle.

it is also a good example of making things seem worthless.
having been burgled last year, it made me realise that there is no point having things which look attractive or expensive, to have things which you know could be attractive, but to everyone else look rubbish is safer. a laptop concealed in a book being a perfect example of this.

i also found this example when researching ipods..
disguising things which mean a lot to you, as something which is worthless to anyone else seems an interesting concept and one to consider for research or a future project.

GEOFF MCFETRIDGE

this is a new t-shirt design from Huck, illustrated by Geoff McFetridge.

i like things like this.

designs that could be one or more things depending on how your mind works or how you look at it. this is also extremely simple yet very effective, which i think is hard to achieve.

it makes you realise that knowing when to stop adding detail is a skill in itself.

OVER AND OVER

i bought this as an impulse buy over summer. I'm a terrible doodler and often wonder if what i doodle could ever be used for something on a larger scale. over and over is a book of hand drawn patterns compiled by mike perry. the book has two or three pages on each featured artist. i enjoyed flicking through when i first got the book, the variety of styles is interesting. some i really like, for example Brie Harrison
as she uses very clever repetition and quite retro images and colours.

others are a bit of a let down. Damien Correll's don't do him justice. i really like his linking arm pattern which hints that he is more talented than the book would have you believe. i don't think that mike perry selected his best work to be featured in book, he is worth investigating further than his published patterns.

over and over confirms how important it is to keep being creative, no matter where you are or what you doodle on. ideas can come from anywhere, and experimenting will broaden your chance of finding an idea that really works.