Sebastian Errazuriz

"Chilean born, New York based artist and designer Sebastian Errazuriz seeks to create works that can remind people of their mortality, invite them to look again at their lives and question at their daily routines.

His obsession with the dichotomies of life and death are present in his sculptures, public art works, consumer objects, furniture and even fashion.

Selected one of the top emerging designers by I.D magazine, he has also been chosen Chilean Designer of the Year, and received multiple awards by design competitions, and the international media."

The new Windows 8 logo

Designed by Pentagram, the preeminent design studio. Surprised I didn't find out about this earlier. My take is... it's boring, but really what alternative is there?

The window points away from the wordmark instead of towards it, which is distracting for me. Actually I'm indifferent about the design, it's the self-fellating design talk that gets me. "The team designed the system to fit into lines of perspective." – Four squares is a "system"? "The clean lines, flat shape and bold color of the logo reflect the design principles of Microsoft’s Metro design language." Clean lines, flat shape and bold color, therefore it's awesome! Haven't heard that one before. If only they used Gotham, it would have been a winner for sure.

From the windows team blog: "Our final goal was for the new logo to be humble, yet confident. Welcoming you in with a slight tilt in perspective and when you change your color, the logo changes to reflect you. It is a “Personal” Computer after all." I don't think the logo is very humble or confident. It's more precocious and stoic, a distant but intimate embrace of hue and shape, altering its nature to mirror the viewer's physical spirit.

Seriously though, the logo is pretty interesting because I get the feeling of a big shift at Microsoft. Whether or not this is reality is something else, but looking at the Metro "design language", it seems that Microsoft is actually trying something different with the aim of improving their product.

Pentagram's Windows 8 page
Windows Team blog

Film the police.

Obviously there are good cops and there are bad cops. If you see a cop doing good, you should probably thank them. If you see a cop doing bad, don't let them get away with it:

John Gutmann

"John Gutmann (1905–1998) was a German-born American photographer and painter. After fleeing Nazi Germany for being a Jew, Gutmann acquired a job in the United States as a photographer for various German magazines. Gutmann quickly took an interest in the American way of life and sought to capture it through the lens of his camera. He especially took an interest in the Jazz music scene.

Gutmann is recognized for his unique "worm's-eye view" camera angle. He enjoyed taking photos of ordinary things and making them seem special.

The full archive of John Gutmann's work is located at the Center for Creative Photography (CCP) at the University of Arizona in Tucson, which also manages the copyright of his work.[1]" Wikipedia

Helmet week part 7

This helmet belonged to King Henry VIII, complete with glasses for his short-sightedness.

Helmet week part 6

The new helmet that accompanies the new F-35 fighter jet. Its weird shape comes from two projectors that display information on the inside of the visor, replacing the standard heads-up-display.

Helmet Week part 5

Helmet week part 4

The blazer and orange highlights on the goggles (referencing the hue of the goldfish) really pull this look together. An avant-garde look for today's modern man.

Helmet Week part 3

A shot from the movie Without Love starring Katharine Hepburn.

"Lonely widow Jamie Rowan (Katharine Hepburn) helps the war effort by marrying a military research scientist, Patrick Jamieson (Spencer Tracy on film, Elliott Nugent on the stage), who has set up his lab in her house. Patrick has had all the worst of love and Jamie, all the best. They both believe that a marriage could be a success without love, as it reduces the chances of jealousy and bickering and all the other marital disadvantages. But as the film progresses, the inevitable happens as they begin to fall in love with each other."

Apparently it's pretty bad.

She sneezes!

Whoops! She can't wipe her nose through glass!

Helmet week part 2

A porcupine fish helmet.

"Porcupine fish helmet from Kiribati, Oceania. Part of the Pitt Rivers Museum Founding Collection. Given to the Museum in 1884. This helmet is made from an entire porcupine fish, also known as a blowfish. It comes from Kiribati (pronounced 'kiri-bass'), a group of islands in the Micronesia in the Pacific. Before the 1970s they were a British colony and were known as the Gilbert and Ellice Islands. The Pitt Rivers Museum holds one of the most extensive collections of Kiribati arms and armour in the world."

Helmet Week

Because I start weeks on Sundays at 12:30 AM. You always find kooky things while you're researching stuff on image search. I found a bunch of helmet-related things today so there you go, a theme for the next few days.

Check out Helmet B by designer Julien Bergignat and Patrice Mouille that can be laid out flat for easy packing.