Hasta La Ideas

For this review, I ran all software on Windows 7 with updates and current drivers. Test machines:

Unibody Macbook Pro with a Intel Core2duo and 256MB GeForce 9400M
HP Workstation with a AMD Phenom (quad) with a 1GB nvidia GeForce 9600

If you haven’t heard, Autodesk is now offering software bundles or “suites.” Each suite wraps a handful of Autodesk Products into an industry-specific package. Standard, Premium and Ultimate editions add products while increasing the (discounted versus retail) price. I was given Ultimate editions of the Design and Product Design suites for evaluation.

Autodesk Design includes Sketchbook Designer (previously known as Alias Sketch), Alias Design, 3D Studio Max, Inventor Fusion, Showcase and Mudbox. Autodesk Product Design adds AutoCAD and Inventor Pro. It would be impossible to review all of these software products in depth, so instead I will share my experiences using these products as an integrated suite of tools within an industrial design workflow.

To begin, I assigned myself the task of designing a wireless desktop speaker. Instead of opening Sketchbook Pro to begin concept sketching, I launched Sketchbook Designer. This is Autodesk’s next generation digital sketching tool that builds upon the look and feel of Sketchbook Pro while adding many features and tools. The most notable being full vector sketching: point based, editable, fluid—almost unbelievable. If you’ve ever danced the ctrl-z sketch dance: sketch, undo, sketch, undo, sketch…It’s a breath of fresh air to throw down a clean line, click, drag nudge and continue. It takes some time to adjust to this new way to sketch, but once I got it I was sold.

Click for full-sized images!

Sketchbook Designer mixes vector and raster layers for versatility. If you haven’t tried it, it is worth a trial download. After I finished my sketch, I saved as a native Sketchbook Designer DWG (import and export as Sketchbook Pro TIF or Photoshop PSD is an option).

Next, I launched Alias Design, and opened the DWG sketch I had created. It imported successfully but the file was empty—hmmm? Switching back to Sketchbook Designer, I found “File>Export>Curves DWG.” Back to Alias, my vectors imported perfectly as plain NURBS curves of varying complexity (not quite usable to generate surfaces but better than a fuzzy raster underlay. Plus, I can snap curves to my sketch?!).

Alias Design has continually added features and enhancements over the years. It is still unbeatable for ultimate control when crafting perfect NURBS surfaces. I consider parametric surface modeling to be the future and would love to see Alias Design push blend curves and construction-history even further.

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Record your next hit at Converse’s top-of-the-line studio in Brooklyn

With Chucks on the feet of countless lead singers, Converse’s roots in rock ‘n’ roll go almost as far back as the genre itself, a tradition the brand is keeping alive with this week’s opening of Rubber Tracks, a world-class recording studio open to musicians of all genres at no cost.

The community-driven space, located in one of Williamsburg, Brooklyn’s last remaining industrial pockets, is purely democratic, organized to enable serious musicians who might otherwise struggle with the high price of studio time. As Chief Marketing Officer Geoff Cottrill explained on our visit, this is an altruistic endeavor and all musicians recording at Rubber Tracks will retain all rights to their tunes. Converse is simply the facilitator in helping them achieve their best possible sound.

Much like Levi’s recent creative workshops, anyone can use the space if there is an available time slot. How it differs is its long-term approach, accepting applicants in cycles to spend a thorough amount of time in the studio and encouraging bands to reapply if not accepted the first time around. The North Andover, MA-based shoemaker considers this an investment in the future of music and a way to give back.

Exteriors feature murals by Mr. Ewokone and Shepard Fairey (whose works were both already there), with artist Jeremyville‘s “Crystal Mountain, Williamsburg” gracing the inside stage area—which Converse says will not become a venue but will serve mostly as another area for bands to practice or experiment. Equipment supplied by Guitar Center fills the building, a lineup including guitars and amps by Fender, Marshall and Schecter, as well as NYC’s only Ocean Way HR2 large-format monitor system.

The rest of the space is wholly focused on recording, even soundproofed to prevent “flat” uncolored sound. Persian rugs and worn floorboards keep a relaxed vibe in the studio, which is kitted out with all the essential gear for shredding and a retro-styled isolation booth.

Helmed by seasoned musician and facility manager Brad Worrell, alongside a team of top-notch engineers, the control room has digital and analog mixing consoles with enough buttons to rival a spaceship. There’s a space for the synth set too. Rubber Tracks also has a workroom dedicated to digital editing, offering a complete range of tools for mixing both music and video.

While ready for a jam session in terms of audio equipment and decor, this summer they’re kicking things off by hosting a week-long Grammy Camp for students, who will learn the creative process of making a track from start to finish. Rubber Tracks will open as a recording studio tomorrow, 13 July 2011, with five emerging NYC bands christening the space and a slew of musicians to follow.

See more photos in the gallery.

SomeOne has created a suitably aquatic-based identity system for the National Maritime Museum group in Greenwich, London

The new identity, the launch of which coincides with the opening of a new wing at the National Maritime Museum encompasses not just the Museum itself but also the Royal Observatory, Peter Harrison’s Planetarium and The Queen’s House.

The central element of the system is a 3D splash of CGI-generated water that is employed in different colours according to the venue. Its shape suggests perhaps a crown (in a nod to Greenwich’s royal connections, we presume).

This sits alongside restrained and elegant wordmarks set in Farnham (a typeface designed by Christian Schwartz which has previously been mainly used in magazines, including CR).

The splash device is then employed on signage

website (designed by BVA, designers of CR’s own site)

and advertising

while merchandise and other collateral take cropped versions

It’s another of SomeOne’s ‘brand world’ approaches – flexible, but based around a single visual motif. Compared to the Eurostar work, this one feels better resolved and classic enough to work with the venues’ architecture and historical significance.

The Maritime museum is also about to unveil High Arctic an amazing-looking interactive installation by United Visual Artists which launches its new Sammy Ofer Wing and which we will post about tomorrow once we have visited it.

Postscript: Regular readers will remember that as part of our series of graduate show round-ups we posted Norwich student Jamin Galea‘s own proposal for an identity system for the Museum. (UPDATE: Galea, as he says in the comments below, is currently interning at SomeOne).

So, cheeky question but which do readers prefer?

Credits:
SomeOne – strategy, naming, branding and advertising
United Visual Artists – exhibition design
Clear – signage and wayfinding
Real Studios – gallery design
Plant – digital signage
BVA – digital and website

Related Content

We posted about SomeOne’s Eurostar identity system here
A system for PR agency Resonate here
And Olympic pictograms here

CR in Print

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