Sights & Sounds: Animal Collective / ‘Spirit They’re Gone, Spirit They’ve Vanished’ by Nick Iluzada

Sights & Sounds: Animal Collective / 'Spirit They're Gone, Spirit They've Vanished' by Nick Iluzada

Nick Iluzada

I’m really excited to share this new Sights & Sounds series, and so happy to see people who are equally excited to create something rad. I’ve been a big Animal Collective fan for years now, and I felt like they had the right vibe to really inspire some great looking wallpapers. Our first wallpaper in the series is for Spirit They’re Gone, Spirit They’ve Vanished. Recorded back in ’99, the album is technically the work of Avey Tare and Panda Bear, the other guys hadn’t joined the group yet, and was heavily inspired by Avey Tare’s move from Baltimore to New York. It’s amazing how you can so easily hear the very foundations of their style in this album. The production, while not the greatest, is the one thing that makes it feel not quite right. Nonetheless, it’s actually a pretty amazing album, Panda Bear’s drumming in particular is something to hear at the very least.

To illustrate the album our fearless curator Andy chose Nick Iluzada, who has one of the coolest last names ever. Before this project I wasn’t familiar with Nick’s illustration work, which is a total shame. Nick has a wonderful sense for color and motion, check out his Footbawlerz series to see exactly what I mean. The variety and creativity in his sketchbooks is also something worth checking out as well.

Here’s what Nick had to say about his wallpaper:

“I created this image simply with the hope of capturing the feel of some specific tracks (most notably Chocolate Girl, Untitled, Someday I’ll Grow To Be As Tall As the Giant, and Alvin Row) with the album title as the jumping off point. While the record sways back and forth between gritty, high-pitched noise and serene textures, I felt that there was some sort of middle ground that could be worked with in terms of bringing the imagery away from it’s Baltimore (make everything neon rainbows) roots and a subdued yet coarse feel would do just the trick.”

A huge thanks to Nick for creating such a beautiful wallpaper and Andy Mangold for choosing such a talented guy. Check back next Wednesday at 10AM PST for the next wallpaper in our series, Animal Collective’s Danse Manatee.

Bobby

Bobby Solomon

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July 20, 2011 - See more posts by Bobby

Will Chevy’s Volt Succeed?

The other day, Chevy released specs for their upcoming model Volt, an electric/gas hybrid which they’re hoping will save their sinking ship. They’ve touted that the Volt with be able to get 230 miles per gallon, an astounding number which if true, would kill any competitor (for now). The big BUT to the story though is the price tag of the car, which starts at $40,000. I guess my question is, will enough rich people buy this car to keep it alive? At least long enough for development to continue and the price to steadily drop over time. The Prius currently costs around $22,000, so it’s nearly double that.

In my head I’m trying to equate the situation to something that Apple would do. Apple makes high-end products, and for much less money you can still get a computer. I think what Apple does, that I’m guessing GM won’t, is make it an experience that’s absolutely worth the higher price tag.

What do you all think? Will the Volt be able to survive?

Bobby

Bobby Solomon

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August 11, 2009 - See more posts by Bobby

Rhizomatiks Clock Series 01-06






iPhone applications are getting more and more complex and exciting all the time, as evidenced by the programs above by Rhizomatiks, a Japan based design agency. They’ve created a series of clock applications that are pushing the boundaries of art in iPhone applications. These clocks each display time in a unique way, like numbers on tags hanging from strings or brightly colored digits flying away at a diagonal angle. These kind of remind me of something that UNIQLO would do, which I think is totally a compliment to Rhizomatiks. Each of these apps is free to play with, so I’d recommend scoring them all and impressing people.

Click here for the download links to each of these.

Found through Creative Applications

Bobby

Bobby Solomon

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July 6, 2009 - See more posts by Bobby

Audi-O Concept Car

It’s been a while since I’ve seen a car that got me flustered so it was nice to come across this awesome idea. The car is called the Audi-O and was created by designer Odrej Jirec. The car looks pretty futuristic, but not so far that it would be impossible to see on the road in the next 10 years. The car is really simple in it’s form, inspired by Apple products (no surprise there), but offers some exciting curves that would definitely turn some heads. The LED headlights are pretty rad, though my absolute favorite is the back, which is a beautiful piece of glass framed by red tail lights.

But really the point of the car is it’s amazing sound system, which would be able to connect to other cars like it via bluetooth, allowing you to have one big ass speaker party. Not only that, but the Audi-O also comes equipped with a set of turntables for all those bootleg DJ gigs you throw… right. Anyhow, it’s a beautiful idea executed extremely well, and thankfully Odrej is heading to Art Center and hopefully will have the chance to turn these ideas into reality! Check out more pictures by visiting Diseno-Art.

Bobby

Bobby Solomon

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August 17, 2008 - See more posts by Bobby

The New York Times iPhone GUI

It’s a strong held belief of mine (and many others) that good design is the design you don’t notice. It sits there like it’s always belonged there, such as the stop sign and the red cross. So when I came across these GUI (Graphic User Interface) designs for The New York Times iPhone application, they reminded me of something you wouldn’t notice, they just worked. The GUI was put together by Felix Sockwell, Khoi Vinh, and Caryn Tutino, who had to create the icons in greyscale and black and white at a size of 29 x 29 pixels.

Felix’s website has a nice exploration of the their ideas as well as Felix’s thoughts and a bit of the process as well. One of the most interesting parts is how much The New York Times flip-flopped on the GUI for the Obituaries section, as they deemed many of the ideas too morbid, finally deciding upon using a flower to signify death. Does that seem a bit off to anyone else? Anyhow, check out the rest of the sketches and ideas, it’s an interesting inside look.

Bobby

Bobby Solomon

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July 14, 2008 - See more posts by Bobby

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