Visual math with corporate logos

Continuing on my theme of mashup posts today (band name + book title here), check out the brilliant math and arithmetic behind corporate logos, from Argentinian bloggers La Luna and Javier at LogosLogos. I'm digging this visual math.

Morph: a future geek must-have

OMG. The Nokia Morph animation illustrates the gasp-inducing capabilities of nanotechnology. The Morph concept is the result of a collaboration between Nokia Research Center and Cambridge Nanoscience Center. You can't buy this property-changing device today, but the science behind it is definitely here today.

Nanotechnology possibilities are simultaneously amazing, thrilling, and scary. It's the stuff of sci-fi, made real.



Besides the gee whiz factor, I like this video because it takes complex science and brings it to a real-life level. It is all visual and is consumer-focused: no voice overs, no tooting their own horn (look how smart we engineers are!), and only a couple of sci facts explained in a non-engineer way. I imagine there were likely several meeting room brawls over the lack of sci-talk: the sci guys wanting lots of facts, and the design guys wanting no facts. ("Guys" is used here in the all-gender-encompassing sense.)

Also interesting to me is that the character in this video is female. Clearly an effort to make fresh technology more appealing to women and to grow the male-dominated early adopter crowd. Fashionistas, did you notice the ability to match the pattern of Morph to your outfit?

Free events for creative types this weekend

The annual ByDesign film series offers a couple of free opportunities in Seattle this week to peek at the latest in digital video and audio art trends. Free is good, yes?

ByDesign kicks off this Thursday, March 6th with an opening reception featuring works exploring the synchronization of color, shape and type with sound. Contributing producers/performers at the opening night reception include UK group Semiconductor Films, and digital music artists Son of Rose and Caro. (8:00 pm, free)

If you miss the opening reception, you can catch the Time Out of Place production from Semiconductor on Saturday, March 8th, showing between the hours of 3:00 pm and 7:15 pm. (free)
On Sunday, March 9th you can soak in four works from Graham Wood, of the acclaimed creative group Tomato. These pieces are described as "haunting, kaleidoscopic animated sequences." (Hmmm. Consider enhancing your visual perception beforehand if you are into that sort of thing.) Showing between the hours of 3:00 pm and 7:00 pm. (free)

The series lineup includes a few additional interesting screenings, but these will cost ya: Entrophy: New Shorts and Music Videos; Helvetica; and History of Computer Graphics in Film. (Tron, anyone?) The Helvetica documentary film received good reviews from Time Out London and Chicago Tribune. Check the ByDesign 08 site for deets.

Minor detour: Helvetica is all the rage these days. MoMA's exhibit "50 Years of Helvetica" is showing through March 31st and highlights the typeface's history, ubiquity, and influence. I caught it back in October and it was surprisingly interesting. Get the catalog on the MoMA website if you are a font-head.

All events are held at the Northwest Film Forum in the Capitol Hill neighborhood of Seattle. [map]

Colorblind Designers. Suspicions Confirmed.

Who knew? According to this post "Blindness" and comments, apparently there are color-blind designers running around out there. Employed as designers. Really. I had my suspicions, now confirmed. For real.

Maybe one could make it onto the next season of Project Runway. Wait. Maybe one already has.

Here's an example of how the red/green colorblind see the world:




Check the "Blindness" link for more photographic examples.

via Core77