Hasta La Ideas

Massimo Gammacurta’s logo lollipops are brought together in a new book, a sickly sweet collection of corporate iconography rendered in brightly coloured sugar…

Gammacurta first distributed his special lollipops over the internet, as an art experiment, and they were picked up (licked up?) by numerous bloggers.

The New York-based photographer has previously worked with Surface and Esquire magazines, plus brands such as Nike and Lexus, and will be showing his lollipop images at the Visionairs Gallery, Rue des Carmes 14, 75005 Paris, France from May 18 until June 7.

His book, Lolli-pop, can be ordered directly from BIS publishers’ website, here. More of Gammacurta’s work at gammacurta.com.

Spreads from the book:

The sugar Apple cover:

pFrom A HREF=”http://sincere.lge.com/” LG/A comes this saccharine but entertaining video showing you what really happens when there’s a dead pixel on your monitor. (Should also make compelling viewing for your kids, after you tell them that the way computers work is that there are little tiny people inside pushing buttons and pulling levers.)/p

pobject width=”468″ height=”282″param name=”movie” value=”http://www.youtube.com/v/pC7JaFGLxLIcolor1=0xb1b1b1color2=0xd0d0d0hl=en_USfeature=player_embeddedfs=1″/paramparam name=”allowFullScreen” value=”true”/paramparam name=”allowScriptAccess” value=”always”/paramembed src=”http://www.youtube.com/v/pC7JaFGLxLIcolor1=0xb1b1b1color2=0xd0d0d0hl=en_USfeature=player_embeddedfs=1″ type=”application/x-shockwave-flash” allowfullscreen=”true” allowScriptAccess=”always” width=”468″ height=”282″/embed/object/pa href=”http://www.core77.com/blog/object_culture/lgs_fun_pixel_soldiers_video_16619.asp”(more…)/a
pa href=”http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/I1fQKeJdO95JhK1fXfeo1UssORE/0/da”img src=”http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/I1fQKeJdO95JhK1fXfeo1UssORE/0/di” border=”0″ ismap=”true”/img/abr/
a href=”http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/I1fQKeJdO95JhK1fXfeo1UssORE/1/da”img src=”http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/I1fQKeJdO95JhK1fXfeo1UssORE/1/di” border=”0″ ismap=”true”/img/a/p

The June issue of CR focuses on CGI, with six illustrators collaborating with six CGI studios to create original images. Plus, this year’s Graduate Guide supplement and, for subscribers, a World Cup Wallchart

Our Graduate Guide has a wealth of advice and information for graduating students as well as degree show listings

Meanwhile, in the issue, we have organised a bit of cross-pollination between two very different styles of imagemaker.

We ran our first CGI special issue last July. In it we talked about the fact that, although CGI is a great photo-realistic problem-solving tool, it might be more interesting to see what use the technology could be put to in creating new kinds of imagery. So, for this issue we picked six illustrators and designers, most of whom have a hand-drawn aesthetic, and matched them with six CGI studios. We asked each pair to come up with one image which would represent a synthesis of their skills.

For the cover, we have a crop of one the images created for us. It’s based on this original pencil drawing by Von

Von and Ed Taylor, creative lead at CGI studio Taylor James, then worked together on how this image might translate into 3D. Eventually, they came up with this

a crop of which has been used on the cover.

Our other illustrator/CGI pairings are: Andy Gilmore/Happy Finish; Solomon Vaughan/Recom Farmhouse; James Joyce/Candy Lab (now known as The 3D Agency); Seb Lester/TigerX and Emily Forgot/Saddington & Baynes

Elsewhere in the issue we have a profile on Paul White and Me Company, currently celebrating 25 years of visualising the future

In Crit, Rick Poynor grapples with a difficult but rewarding new book on corporate identity from Dutch studio Metahaven

James Pallister checks out the Pick Me Up graphic art fair

And Jeremy Leslie checks out the first, faltering attempts to make magazines work on the iPad

In Monograph this month, for subscribers only, we have Kheiron, one of Me Company’s abstract image series, this time on the theme of hands

Last, but by no means least, we have the latest in our subscriber extras. You may recall that, over the past year, subscribers have received fold-out binders for Monograph, a Christmas tree, a kit to grow tomatoes, prints from the Photography Annual and postcards of previous covers.

With this issue, design studio Greenspace has kindly donated a copy of its World Cup Wallchart to all our UK subscribers.

It was designed by Martina Perrin and James Taylor at thegreenspace.com and produced by Nirvana CPH on 150 gsm Regency Satin from Howard Smith Paper.

Set in Cordale by Dalton Maag, the chart lists all 64 matches at the World Cup with the match number, date and kick-off time. The result of each game can then be written in, but only by arty types with extremely neat handwriting and fancy pens, of course.

Here’s the whole thing, as modelled in true design style by our deputy editor Mark

The June issue of CR goes on sale on May 28. Next issue: July and our first Illustration Annual

Outside of here at UnBeige and various art blogs and print outlets, art theft doesn’t usually get much in the way of sustained mainstream play, if any. So when this weekend’s heist at Paris’ Museum of Modern Art became all the buzz, we figured there was already enough chatter out there about the robbery that nabbed five paintings worth more than $100 million and we didn’t have anything much else to contribute, so best just let it be. But then, as you might not have heard given all the talk about just that high-profile burglary, the weekend became something of an art theft epidemic. We decided it was silence no longer. The day after Paris’ MoMA was being robbed, an art collector in Marseille (already the site of a recent art theft) was attacked and beaten in his home and the thieves made off with five pieces of art, including a Picasso. What’s more, in the approach to the weekend, shortly before all of this happened in France, in London, model Kate Moss‘ house was being broken into so the thief could swipe her pricey Banksy painting. Although in that case, the police have already nabbed a suspect, all of this art taking isn’t boding well for Europe in the slightest. We know, for one, that we’re no longer planning to bring our Monets to the UnBeige summer palace in Vienna this season.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Today we welcome guest post writer Chaya Goodman, editor of the website Networx. Chaya’s website provides information on how to fix, renovate, and decorate your house.

I spent most of my life procrastinating, and, as a result, lived in very messy, cluttered apartments.  A year ago, I moved into a studio apartment and I made a binding resolution with myself that I would keep it clean and free of clutter. I can happily tell you that I stuck to my resolution. A messy, cluttered house can be symptomatic (or the cause itself) of problems with procrastination and motivation. As a former procrastinator who has undergone a transformation into a tidy minimalist, I’d like to offer some compassionate, but straightforward, advice:

1. You can’t organize your life all at once, nor can you get to the root of your organizational problems in one fell swoop. Start small.

   First things first and last things last. I have a friend who can’t seem to hold down a job or keep a space clean, largely because she decided a long time ago that the root of her problems is that she can’t find the right community to live in.  Thus, she has spent years packing and unpacking her belongings, living out of boxes, and losing important items and holding onto stuff that she “might need one day.”  If you can’t hold down a job or keep a room clean, then work on getting up and going to work every day — don’t worry about why you can’t do it, focus on doing it.  Tidy up your house for 10 minutes every night.  Don’t skip town.  Eventually, the problem and its root might just disappear.

2. Accept that work, especially house cleaning and organization, can be boring.  You might have to spend time doing tasks that you think are below your intellect.

   If you believe that you are too busy, intelligent, or talented for grunt work, your space is probably going to be a disaster area.  I know this first hand.  I used to write poems instead of doing dishes, or get so busy with community projects that I couldn’t find time to put away my laundry. Believing that you’re too smart for house work is faulty logic and egotism. Do I find folding laundry boring? Yes.  Do I sometimes wish I could sit and write instead of mopping my floor? Yes.  However, footwork is a means to an end. I accept that I get to read books and write stories after I’ve tidied up my apartment. Having a clean house allows me to think more clearly than ever, and washing the dishes is a great distraction-free time to brainstorm visionary ideas.

3. Progress, not perfection.

   The biggest bug behind procrastination is making plans that are too grandiose. I used to write up these elaborate meal plans and organizational plans that always bombed, because they were far too ambitious.  One of the biggest revelations I’ve had in maintaining a healthy diet and reducing the number of dishes I have to wash is that I essentially gave up on cooking during the week.  I keep a large plastic bowl at work, and a sharp vegetable knife.  Twice a day, I take 5 minutes to rinse off a few vegetables and throw together a big salad in my plastic bowl.  For protein, I throw in some nuts or beans or sprouts, and I eat a couple pieces of sprouted bread from the health food store.  If I were limiting my definition of healthy eating to making elaborate macrobiotic meals, I’d be fat and unhealthy, and I’d have dishes piled up in the sink.  I found a way to eat my vegetables in 10 minutes a day. Is it a perfect diet? No, but it works.

4. Know your limits.

   I’ve noticed that the cycle of slacking for me goes like this: 1. Taking on way too many projects (organizational or otherwise), to compensate for having slacked off; 2. Trying to do all the tasks using poor time management skills; 3. Failing at fulfilling responsibilities; 4. Giving up hope; 5. Slacking. When tasks start piling up, do not touch the dust of taking them on all it once.  Be honest with yourself — you’re not a superhero who can stop time. Instead, make a list and deal first with the task with the biggest penalty for slacking.  For example, renewing my driver’s license has the biggest financial risk associated with it, so I decided to undertake it before putting away my laundry.

5. The best way to tackle responsibilities is to multitask.

   You can master time management by multitasking.  For instance, I like to throw dinner parties, but my minimalist kitchen only has one burner and a toaster oven, and I only have one morning a week available for house cleaning. When I throw a dinner party, my plan might look like this:  On the morning before a dinner party, I start by writing a list of tasks. Next, I organize what jobs I can do concurrently.  First I cook the rice.  While the rice cooks, I sort my laundry into piles and chop vegetables for stew.  Next, I put the stew on the burner to cook.  While the stew cooks, I take my laundry to the Laundromat on my block.  Once my laundry is out of the house, I sweep and mop the floor. Then, I wipe down my baseboards and windowsill. I take the stew off the burner and start making salads. I set the table.

   Eventually, you will be able to gauge how long particular tasks take, and you’ll be able to do several actions at the same time.

Essentially, what I have learned over the past year of staying organized and living efficiently is that the best safeguard against slacking off and procrastinating is doing the task now, whatever it is.  I often remind myself that whatever chore I want to put off will be harder later. The anxiety that procrastination causes is much harder than just bucking up and doing it now.