A N D E R

The new Polaroid.com It's hipstamatic, UI-innovatin' but I think they're getting their business market and people wrong (or missing a major segment). People love photos, it's evident. They love to capture memories and re-live them instantly, and although some people still love printing them and putting them on their fridge and desk it is still a thing of the past—and something I see less of in our future. What Polaroid should be doing is getting in touch with the software side of life. If I were Polaroid I would be approaching a couple of the killer iphone app developers (that already have some successful apps) and negotiating a purchase for them to build a suite of apps. The true Polaroidists may see this as a relegation of the brand but I see it as an opportunity— People are trying to mimic what they used to do so why not put the brand back in peoples hearts by putting it on their phones? It can't be any worse than trying to turn the brand into fashion accessory. Just a thought.

Killer vid of the helmet building process my buddy Cory sent to me. I just love how the DJing world is a fusion of music tech and design. So collaborative! So cool! Oh, and where can I buy on of those and for how much?

I wish I had more projects that utilized Flash sometimes, not really because I love it so much but because it takes so long to get back into thinking how to design, code and organize it. This year I am taking a strict formulaic approach maximizing organization and efficiency (due to ridiculous time restraints) but also hopefully to make the ideation process a little more organic. I will continue to post updates on this as: 1) it will be my entire life the next 2 weeks and 2) for as small of a team we are, I am blessed and amazed to see all that gets pumped out in such a short period (these sketches will become push ads for a live media player that is currently in development). Anyway, here's to sanity gone the next 2 weeks.

Hollywood was in peak form at the bowl last night with beautiful weather and scenery (I just love the old hollywood feel that the bowl has), wonderful company and fantastic music. First up was The Bird and The Bee. I had the chance to catch them at the Descanso Gardens almost over a year now, and although the Hollywood Bowl is a MUCH bigger venue they did a great job. I think the highlight of their set was when Greg Kirsten ran to the side of the stage and grabbed his daughter (maybe 2 years old) and brought her back to the piano to play the last song. 

Next up was the classy Zooey Deschanel and the salient singer songwriter (listening to him as I write this) M. Ward. She and Him had an old time authentic sound that is perfect for a summer night in Hollywood. It seemed as though the Hollywood Bowl finally turned on the speakers when they got on. Just a solid sound from this duo. I would see them again just to see M. Ward work that guitar over again. He's the trump of guitar singer songwriters in this day and age and was wonderful to catch them this time around.

Last up I confess I didn't really buy these tickets to see (although I love the music and their oscar winning movie Once) but they really were the best act of the night. The Swell Season just have this humble power about them; you just feel happy they're up there because they themselves are just so happy to be up there. They played music from they're hit record/movie, some from their new record and covered a couple of Van Morrison and Bruce Springsteen (I was thoroughly impressed). Glen Hansard's guitar and guitar playing is rough and completely Irish, and Markita Irglova balances him out perfectly with her piano playing and vocals that are small as a mouse but filled the venue with as full and rich a tone as any frontman (or woman). Like I said, I was thouroughly impressed and would definitely see them again if the opportunity presented itself. 

A great end to a busy weekend, good to know that there are classy musical acts out there.

Designer Marc Thomasset Created a wonderfully tantalizing notebook. May be a little more difficult to take school notes on but I think I'd dare writing client or brainstorming notes in it. 

Clever and inspiring wish they were for sale!

Absolutely love this installation by Nerdworking a research network to develop unique hardware and software. I just love what people dream up with vision and collaboration. The video's a tad long for internets people (so its not a 2 min video of dancing hamsters) so sit back and just check out the coolness. I really wish I could've experienced this in person.

Well seeing as the iPhone 4 negativity (and now legal recourse) has been becoming hotter and heavier over the last week Apple finally folded and came up with a new fix. What's good about this is that it will be completely affordable and offers an instant fix... And it's fashionable (in Apple fashion of course). I'd definitelly purchase one (if I had an iPhone 4 of course).

UPDATE: I did a little more digging and found that Apple actually put out a patent on this OVER A YEAR AGO. So did they know about this BEFORE? If so, man they're smart. I bet they could sell water to a whale or whatever. (I don't know what all the numbers and lines are for but it definitely looks highly technical and legitimate!)

This self initiated design by designer Audrée Lapierre is just slick. It gives the nutritional facts a helluva lot more interest and significance. Bravo Lapierre, bravo.

From Lapierre's post:

The data visualizations say more than a regular nutritional facts label. For example, ingredients are visually linked to their corresponding components (carbohydrate, total fat, proteins, sodium, others). In the case of a bag of chips, you would immediately see that it contains lots of ingredients without nutritive value.

Check out more of his work here. Oh and he works for a company called ffunction which has a pretty sweet site and work too.

 

There are tons of photographers out there these days but few left like David. David is a photo journalist for the US Army and has captured the most gripping of images there. He was stationed in Afghanistan last year and with the news thats been going on lately, literally captured history. Not only that, but I think he's captured life over there unlike any photographer I've ever seen do. You'll have to click through to see what I mean. He's an old friend and I was able to catch him online this morning and glad he's back stateside. I've always been in love with his work but was pretty amazed to see his latest. Anyway, whats below is just a sampling of this man's amazing work. Go check him out on Flickr and show him some love and respect. He's serving our country capturing the truth, honesty and brutality of this historical conflict we've been in. I'm pretty sure I'll see these images in history books one day.

David's Flickr - again