Week 4: Inspiration from the Internet

This week, I was looking through design articles and I happened to come across this. These fish sculptures were build in Rio de Janeiro, completely out of used plastic bottles. They were made as an installation piece for the UN Conference on Sustainable Development. I thought that these were so cool, I think that it really shows how you can make something great out of nothing. They basically took trash, and made an amazing piece of art. I think that things like this are really inspiring and make me want to think outside of the box. It makes me realize that it is possible to create art out of uncommon objects. I also think it is really great that they made this out of used plastic bottles, I think that it is a really great use of them. So many people just throw their bottles away and they take up space in landfills, but this was a very thrifty idea, that took away from waste that would be thrown away and they probably got the old bottles for free. I think it would be so much fun to participate in a project like this, I've always wanted to create something out of recycled objects.

Week 3: Real Life Inspiration

Last week I went to visit one of my friends in Philadelphia. During my visit, I noticed this bottle in the fridge. I thought that it looked really interesting, so I asked him about it. He said it was Hop Devil, a beer that is brewed in Downington, PA, which is about 30 miles from Philadelphia. Then I went even further and looked it up online. I found that the logo is supposed to be hops, in the shape of a devil. And their slogan is, "menacingly delicious". I really liked their design. It's really fun, and not something you would normally see on a beer bottle. And although the devil is green, the rest of the color palette really reminds me of a firey devilish atmosphere. They do use different typefaces on it but I think it adds to it. However, my favorite part of this design is the hop devil logo itself. I think it's very creative and well executed. The illustration style works well, you can definitely tell its a devil, but it's not too morbid or scary. I also really liked the contrast of the green against the purples and reds, I think it really put emphasis on the logo. As much as I liked the design of this, I did try it and the product itself did not quite live up to my expectations.

Week 3: Inspiration from the Internet

http://disposablememoryproject.org/


This week I found an interesting thing called The Disposable Memory Project. It was created by Matthew Knight, a technical creative director from the UK. Basically, how the project works, is they leave disposable cameras around the world, and people pick them up, take a few photos, and then pass them to someone else. Then eventually the photos from each camera are put onto the website. I thought this was such a cool idea. It's a really great way to see the world from different peoples perspectives. The site was really cool too because you could see where all the cameras were. I think it's really interesting to see what different people chose to photograph, and how they chose to photograph it. I think that just those things tells you a lot about a person. I would love to participate in a project like this, I think it would be so much fun.

Week 2: Real Life Inspiration

A few days ago, I got back from Long Beach Island, NJ with some of my friends. While we were there, we went to a restaurant called The Chicken Or The Egg. You may have seen it when it was featured on Man vs. Food. They are known for their buffalo sauce and obviously their chicken and eggs. It was a really cool restaurant, the menu was full of fun illustrations, like a Jimi Hendrix chicken. And then, the inside of the restaurant was filled random chicken and egg related art pieces. One of my favorite pieces in the restaurant was this painting. I have always been interested in surrealism and Salvador Dali, so I was really intrigued when I saw this remake of the Persistence of Memory. The melting clocks from the original were replaced with eggs. I thought that it was so funny, and perfect for the restaurant. Most of the art inside the Chicken Or The Egg was humorous, and I thought this fit in really well, that it was really unique. I never would have thought to make a forced connection these two ideas, but I think that it works so well. I give a lot of credit to whoever came up with this concept, I love it.


You can watch the Man vs Food episode below!
(Chicken Or The Egg is mostly in the 2nd video)

Week 2: Inspiration from the Internet

I have always thought that Gandhi was a very interesting and inspirational person, so when I was browsing design blogs the other day, this typographical poster really caught my eye. I really like that it has a lot to it, however it is still simple. To me, it kind of looked minimalistic but also very detailed. I thought that all of the separate pieces worked together well in harmony, and emphasis was spread out evenly throughout all of the fundamentals listed. I also think that it's appropriate because its all kind of a neutral, natural color palette. I was intrigued by this poster, so I went to look who designed it. I was surprised to see that is was designed by Francesca Ramos, who is only 22 years old. I was not expecting her to be that young. However, this isn't all I found in researching this poster. I also found that this piece is part of a poster series where design graduates pass on wisdom to first year design students. You can view the poster series here. I thought that this was such a interesting project. I spent a long time looking through all of the different posters, and I would definitely suggest taking a look. I put some of my other favorites below.

Week 1: Real Life Inspiration

Recently, I went to Gallery Sim on the Southside. They had a lot of interesting things like blown glass, sculptures, photography, and handmade jewelry. Out of all the things in the art gallery, one thing in particular caught my attention. I was really intrigued by this painting, however it wasn't even part of their show, it was just a piece owned by the gallery. I asked the owner about the painting and he explained that it was the alphabet made out of pieces of the logos of businesses that are located on E Carson Street. I loved it and thought it was a very interesting concept. I thought that there was equal emphasis on all of the letters, which makes you want to look at all of them, not just a select few. And the repetition of the same square shape helps to tie all of the letters together. And the entire piece is balanced by the large A and Z in opposite corners.  I thought that the piece was planned out very well, the letters all work together in harmony. 

Week 1: Inspiration from the Internet

As I was browsing Etsy and looking at one of my favorite designers shops, I found this screen printed band poster by Nate Duval. The pattern on the poster really caught my eye, and I was especially excited because Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros is one of my favorite bands. I thought that the poster was really appropriate for the band because it is very unique, eccentric and colorful. Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros are a very odd and interesting group, and their music is far from what you would call mainstream. I thought that the poster was perfect for them because the pattern is so detailed and fun. All of the lines and shapes kind of form together to create a texture. I think that the poster really looks like it has depth, which I thought made it very interesting. It almost confused my eyes to look at it too closely. The contrast between the colors and the shapes work together well to create harmony within the entire piece. Although the name of the band is small, there is enough emphasis on it that you want to read it. The pattern draws your eye towards the center, and then the contrast in color of the text makes it stand out even more. Even though I like all of Nate Duval's work, this piece is probably my favorite so far. 


You can see more at Nate Duvals Website. 
And you can listen to Home by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros below.