Sunday, January 11, 2015

Weekly Update - A Little Ambiguity

This week, we delve a little deeper into the cold weather and some ambiguous patterns.

Music: Classixx - Hanging Gardens
An oldie but a goodie. I had my iPhone on shuffle and a song from this album popped up. It wasn't one of the ones I had really loved the first time around, but I have to say that I can't stop listening to it now. It's weird how tastes can change so drastically in such a short span of time (about 6 months).



Listen to the song, Rhythm Santa Clara, below.



Not to mention, smooth dance music makes you move without your prior knowledge (or consent?) which will keep you warm through these days when the wind hurts your face. Which leads me into the next item on our dandy list:

Accomplishment:
This one's a bit crazy. I have been searching for a specific set of sold-out pyjamas for about three months. These winter months will make people go to great lengths to stay warm, and I knew in my heart of hearts that these pyjamas would be the answer to all of my cold-weather woes. Well, I found them and bought them and put them on and will not be taking them off until the thermometer hits plus ten. I must add that the extra-special accomplishment bonus was the fact that they were less than half-off. Thank you, overstock gods! Design-relatedly, who doesn't love a bit of Canadiana? I've got Mounties fever.

Yes, they have a trap door.
No, I will not be using it.

Goals: Learn D3JS
I'm going to take it upon myself to learn D3JS (a JavaScript library for making web-friendly interactive data visualizations). I am learning the basics in an upper-level course at the moment, but I would like to further these skills through a practical outlet. This tool, with a bit of JavaScript knowledge, will allow me to make work that can be easily seen and shared through any current web browser. After all, what's the point of making something beautiful, engaging and informative if no one can see it?


Random Thought: I was at an emo rock show the other night and noticed something peculiar. First of all, as soon as I walked in, the place was full, and full of people all dressed the same. Now, I don't know much about emo rock, but is there a dress code? And is it from 2005? It was a sea of black oversize hoodies, skinny jeans and beanies. A lot of them even bunched and the nape of the neck. You know what I mean. Anyway, I do have a point here. During one of the sets, there were three guys in front of me and all three of them had a different band (that I had never heard of, natch) on the back of their shirts in HUGE letters. You could read them from the back of the room. So I realized, this is probably a huge thought process for the shirt designer. These bands, with what I assume is a small budget for shirts, can't afford a big design on both sides so they choose the back as the focal point. I assume the wearers of these shirts go to a lot of shows, and it is customary to wear a band shirt (albeit under no circumstances should that shirt display the band playing the show, as we know). Therein, a lot of people will be staring at the backs of the people in front of them. People generally don't stand face-to-face that much, as they are looking forward at the stage. What a weird little thing to consider when making a band shirt.

Inspiration: Letters Become Patterns
I really love this little feed of beautiful patterns, made in risograph by Sigrid Calon, each one made only of a letter from the alphabet and up to four colours. The way all of them are layered and repeated gives them so much energy and life. It's really beautiful and shows that something wonderful can be made from almost anything. Something as simple as the letterforms we take for granted (like right now, as you read this blog post) can be used as tools for beautiful image-making. It's very interesting when the actual identity of the letter becomes unclear, as seen below.


I want to say...Z?

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