So I was on my lunch break and happened to walk past Anthropologie. I noticed this display in their window and walked up closer and I realized that it is all made out of those origami fortune tellers. I thought this was such a cool idea. And this was a pretty big display, it wrapped around two sides of the store. I thought this was inspirational because it was such a creative idea. They took a simple piece of origami that kids make in elementary school to play games with, and they made a beautiful display out of it. I think this really shows how you can take something simple and make something amazing out of it. I also think it is very cool that from far away you can't tell what it is made of but when your up close you can.
http://edwardsharpeandthemagneticzeros.com/
So, I have another piece of inspiration related to Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros. As you can tell I really really like them. Anyways, this time it is their website. Surprisingly, I had not actually been to their site until recently. But when I finally went on it, I was surprised. First you have to click on the logo to enter the site, and then when you move your mouse it plays music almost like a xylophone. I thought this was a really fun and interesting way to introduce people to your website. I think it is definitely something that would make this site stand out from others. Although it's not designed very elaborately, it's still a very creative and fun idea that I think will stay in peoples minds. That is why I thought this was inspiring, because it catches peoples attention and makes them remember this website in particular. I think it is such a fun idea, and I love how colorful the page it.
My second art gallery visit was actually on the same street as GalleriE CHIZ, it is called Morgan Contemporary Glass Gallery. I love blown glass, so I was really interested in going here. However when I went they were actually in the building across the street because their normal building had flooded (thats why it looks so dark). But we still got to see everything because they were set up in a temporary location while they renovated the old one. Everyone here was very friendly. You could tell they were all passionate about glass and wanted to answer any questions that I had. The first thing that caught my eye when I walked in were these glass birds:
I loved that they were all so similar, but each was painted differently. I this people who can use glass as a medium are so inspiring because it's such a delicate thing, it must take a lot of patience and skill. Every time I go to a glass gallery of any art gallery that has glass in it, I always say I'm going to take glass blowing lessons, but it hasn't happened yet. Maybe someday. Anyways, I loved this gallery, each piece was beautifully done and very unique. I would definitely go back here when they have their next show.
I was looking for art galleries is the area that I haven't been to, and I found GalleriE CHIZ in Shadyside. It was a really interesting place. It was small, but it had a lot of art packed into it. As soon as we walked in the owner greeted us and told us that we were allowed to touch anything, and that she felt it was part of the full experience to be able to touch and hold the pieces. She also let us know that the restrooms were also part of the gallery and to make sure we take a look. There were so many different things in this gallery. There were three floors, each filled with a variety of paintings, sculptures, jewelry etc.
I really liked the variety of things they had throughout the gallery. And anywhere you looked the walls and the floor was lined with different pieces. They even had a series of paintings done with nail polish.
I thought that was a very creative idea. I would never think to use that as an art medium. I thought they were kind of fun too because they look kind of childish and simple. I also found this ceramic plate...
I liked the simplicity of this and I thought that it was funny because it was about typography. Overall my experience at GalleriE CHIZ was great. I had a great time looking around and talking to the owner. I saw a lot of very unique pieces done in many different mediums. I would recommend for anyone to stop here if you get the chance, it's not a huge place but theres a lot to look at.
This week I was shopping at Urban Outfitters and this book caught my eye. So I started flipping through it and all of the stuff inside was awesome. There was a lot of band posters for bands that I like. The two that I liked the most were for the Avett Brothers and Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros.
Although Edward Sharpe is my favorite, I would probably say I like the Avett Brothers poster the best. They kind of used figure and ground to show the sunflowers and the boat. I think it really adds to it by just showing the silhouette rather than a detailed illustration. I think makes the image really interesting that they made the flowers so detailed and then the top half if pretty simple. I also love the contrast of the black against the orange and yellow. It really makes the illustrations pop out. I think that it was smart to put the Avett Bros text outside of the shape that contains the image. I think that it breaks it up well, so it is not too overwhelming to look at. I also think that the typeface is very appropriate because I think that kind of ship kind of gives off an old timey feel, and that typeface definitely reminds me almost of an old western poster, and for some reason I think it has a little bit of a psychedelic feel because they kind of aligned it with the curve. But I think that is also appropriate because the ship is sailing on sunflowers so I think that could give off sort of a psychedelic feel as well.
http://adammoyer.com/inside-usa-1973/
So, this week I ordered myself some sunglasses from Knockaround. I already have one pair and I noticed that they say "Ace On Base" on the inside...
and I was curious, so after I ordered mine, I was looking around the website to see if I could find anything on why it said that. And under the FAQ's I found that this came from when the founder of the company, Ace was in a band in college and he slid from keyboard to bass guitar during one song and people started saying "Ace on Bass" but it soon changed to "Ace on Base". But this is not my inspiration, my inspiration for this week is what else I found on the FAQ page. There was a part on that page that said, Adam "Ace" went to art school, and had a link to his work. So I clicked on that where I found out that he does sculpture, print and books. His work was very unique and kind of strange, but I did find one book that I thought was awesome. It is called Inside USA 1973. Although its not elaborately designed, it has a really interesting concept. He used photography and a simple map. Each spread had one state highlighted and he put a photo of something from that state. I thought it was a great concept, and a very interesting way to display each state. I also liked that the white space around the map balanced out the photograph on the opposite side of each spread. I think this was a very interesting idea, and I love that the photographs look a little bit old and vintage.
I was at Trader Joes the other day, and I found these facial products. I loved the design of them. I thought that the pattern was so appropriate for something that is organic. I really liked the style of the pattern, it looks hand drawn and maybe even like its colored or painted in. I also thought that the color scheme was very appropriate because it looks earthy and has an organic feel to it. I also think that it was very smart that they made it pretty plain and simple around the type because there is a lot going on on the rest of the label. I also thought it was cool that the label of the two different products were different but kept the same style and color scheme. This is definitely a case where the packaging would definitely make me buy this product over another one.
