I’m a huge gamer, and when I saw “8Bits” by the 8BCrew my heart jumped for joy. The video combines a creepy future world, intense chiptune music, and a 3D/2D toggle that never lets the action get stale. Looking closer, the villain reminds me of of the goombas from the Mario live action film too. Only smaller. However, I don’t quite understand why the hero is only wearing boxer shorts. But really, I don’t care. I suggest you crank it up to full screen mode to enjoy all the graphic goodness. This is the 8BCrew’s only film, but the group is full of talented individuals. Get names and links at the movie homepage.

Posted 10:00 am - May 17th, 2012   |   By Derek   |   Video   |   No Comments

Owen Gent is a second year Illustration student based in Cornwall in England. Lately, he’s been sharing pieces that’s he’s been working on for the children’s book, “The Cherry Tree” written by Rosie Penrose. The characters and scenery he has created are colorful, fun and engaging. The mix of textures throughout the illustrations makes the work dynamic. I’m excited to view the book in it’s entirety. Check out the rest of Owen’s work here.

Posted 10:00 am - May 16th, 2012   |   By Kim   |   Art, Design   |   No Comments

I’m not a pattern person. That’s Kim’s department. But the pattern explorations by Siang Ching have me looking twice. Actually, I have to admit it’s not so much the patterns as it is the ridiculous paper engineering. While exploring patterns as more than just a decorative application, she builds delightfully simple and super-humanly crafted calenders for passing the days. Her site is loaded with awesome gifs of those bad boys in action, so check out the few pics her and head to the Pattern Makers’ site.

Posted 10:00 am - May 15th, 2012   |   By Derek   |   Design   |   No Comments

Yulia Tamonis is a student from Moscow who came up with this creative solution for a class project that involved designing a magazine cover. Seeing as how the issue’s focus would be on the Artic, Yulia became inspired to experiment with typography on ice. The way the letters conform and contort as the ice melts is fascinating. What I love about Yulia’s concept is that as a student, she saw an opportunity to go beyond using the computer to create her vision, she got hands on with it.

Posted 10:00 am - May 14th, 2012   |   By Kim   |   Design, Type   |   No Comments

Most of the time when artists add graffiti to their work, it turns out looking too contrived. Something just doesn’t seem right about it. It’s a fact of life. I’m not sure if Mitar Simikić is a graf artist or what, but it doesn’t even matter. The Formation Face series of vandalized photographs is amazing. The initial compositions are great, but the applied additions seem natural. The images end up being defaced just enough to be believable, but not so much as they become obscured. Mitar’s portfolio is full of other traditional photography, but I hope he ventures down this avenue more. The results are stunning.

Posted 10:00 am - May 11th, 2012   |   By Derek   |   Art, Photography   |   No Comments