Hasta La Ideas

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pThere’s the kind of DIY that looks like B.A. Baracus rigged it up in the back of his van, then there’s the good kind. Erik Anderson’s A HREF=”http://www.gerardotandco.com/blog/recycled-bottle-torch/” Recycled Wine Bottle Torch/A is the good kind, made in classic fashion: He wanted something (patio torches) and was unhappy with the commercially available selection (have you seen Tiki torches?) so rigged something up on the cheap (using parts from the hardware store and empty glass bottles)./p

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pAnderson broke out the instructions for all to see and emulate, along with photos so pretty it looks like they were shot and framed by a pro. (Hit the link above to see ’em large.) Says Anderson, /p

blockquoteIn any of my design work, whether for clients or for myself, I’m most proud when I can find a solution that’s highly creative and effective while keeping resources to a minimum. This is totally inexpensive (around $5-bucks). Plus it’s a great way to recycle a bottle./blockquote

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Do you have an iPhone? Then you know it’s the best portable computer ever made, while at the same time being the worst. phone. ever. because it drops calls all the time!

Here’s what you can do: upload log files of dropped calls for your phone, see how many calls you dropped, where, and when, and then see how they compare with your friends!

Then, when we have enough data, we’re going to file a class action lawsuit on behalf of all our users, run Apple and AT&T through the ringer, and you can get a slice of the action! Don’t get mad, get even!

check it out here , the guy that built this app won the NY hack a thon this past weekend.

Barnbrook in London has produced a modular identity (and a rather lovely looking catalogue) for the 17th Biennale of Sydney which is currently running in the Australian city until August 1. The contemporary art festival, which is subtitled Songs of Survival in a Precarious Age, will showcase (in seven venues) over 440 works of art by no fewer than 166 artists and collaborators from 36 different countries.

The biennale’s subtitle was inspired by American experimental film maker, anthropologist and musicologist Harry Everett Smith (1923-1991) who released a box set of historic recordings entitled Anthology of American Folk Music in 1952.

In turn, Barnbrook took inspiration from Everett Smith’s work to develop a modular identity system for the festival comprising a myriad typefaces shapes, patterns and illustrations that can be combined, the studio tells us, “to create unlikely juxtapositions that individually reference the history of print and typography and which create an unmistakably contemporary voice.”

The identity is based around a modular system of blocks, designed to be flexible in order to work across a multitude of applications, from the cover of the festival’s catalogue (cover and spreads shown above), to the festival’s website, bags, T-shirts, posters and signage. The modular blocks are uniform in shape to allow easy tessellation and there are two layers.

A primary layer block contains textual information and illustrations drawn from old scientific reference books, stills from Smith’s films, astrological manuscripts and mathematical text books…

The secondary layer blocks form abstract shapes…

and patterns based on geometry and halftone printing techniques…

The various elements are designed to be put together thus:

All designs can be applied in monotone (black), duotone (red and black) or tritone (black, red and white).

“The typography is deliberately awkward,” the studio tells us. “Forced justification, bad kerning and strange combinations of typefaces are inspired by letterpress, early/mid-twentieth century print, and specifically reference Smith’s American Folk Music sleeve notes. The challenge was to create a system that doesn’t appear formulaic and predictable but has a unified voice – a celebration of diversity and unity.”

Here are some shots of the identity applied across signage, banners, posters and other items:

To find out more about the 17th Biennale of Sydney – and to see how the identity works online / on-screen – visit biennaleofsydney.com.au/

Fresh off their giving Valentine’s Day the business and smoothing out gay pride’s wrinkles, the radio program Studio 360 has apparently found their favorite attention-getting niche and have launched another “redesign an iconic thing” contest, this time asking their listeners and readers to re-imagine July 4th, in particular, Uncle Sam and the National Anthem. Like before, they’ve asked people to post their submissions to Flickr (this time also to YouTube for the National Anthem part). We’ve been made positively giddy (not an easy task) from the entries they’ve received in the aforementioned previous contests and we’re hoping you submit something if just to create immense pleasure for us (also, they usually have a celebrity judge come on to award the winner, so there’s some extra incentive, if just making us happy doesn’t do it for you). Here’s their on-air request:

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