Friday, September 10, 2010
Timothy Gray wants to be just like Tim Burton when he grows up.
TiM from Ken Turner on Vimeo
I found this wonderful mixed media video on Vimeo, if you like Tim Burton movies you'll love this. It's written, designed and directed by Ken Turner from Toronto, Canada.
Ken Turner graduated in 2007 from Sheridan College Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning, and while going to school had much success with his film "Umbrella Boy", which was directed by Andrew Ross and mentored by Ricardo Curtis of House of Cool. (A full house animation production studio with a portfolio consisting of works such as that fairytale ING commercial, and Despicable Me) "Umbrella Boy" won 2nd place at the Ottawa International Animation Festival in 2006. Since then his talents have been featured on the front pages of Cartoon Brew and StrutYourReel, and he has directed other films such as, "Attack of the Giant Vegetable Monsters", which won him a Aniboom Award in 2007 and then Best Online Short in the Jackson Hole Film Festival, Online Short Film Competition, in 2008.
Most currently, he has written and published three books, "A Night at the Movies", "Eye Candy Volume #1: The Village Idioms" and "Eye Candy Volume #2: Apples & Idioms". As of August 2010 he was working as a character designer and character poser for a flash show called "Ugly Americans at Cuppa Coffee Studios; which you can see more about at his blog.
Friday, August 27, 2010
Mock ad from Photo CS5 Tutorials
The other day I came across a sexy Barcardi ad with water droplets swirling around the bottle. I knew I just had to learn to do it so I watched some tutorials, which you can check out from my previous posts, and played around with some new Photoshop tools.
Above is my mock ad, showing off my new Photoshop CS5 puppet tool skills. Below are the images I used to get there. I wish I could have taken my own photos and worked them out, but these web images worked out pretty well to get the training in. If I had more time to make changes I think I'd spruce up the beer glass a bit, maybe make it a little brighter. But otherwise I like it, and I in love with Photoshop's puppet tool.
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Water Drops and Puppet Wrap in Photoshop
Tutorial: Making water droplets on bottles
Tutorial: Basic of the Puppet Tool
Tutorial: Finer points and applications for using the Puppet Wrap Tool
Monday, August 23, 2010
The Beauty of Data Visualization: David McCandles on TED.com
The Beauty of Data Visualization: David McCandles on TED.com
Numbers, numbers, numbers... We are swamped with data everyday; this my number of troops, this much dollars, etc. But, do we really understand this data? Our brains take in visual data faster than any other sense; before sound, touch, or taste. Our eyes see and process it first. So we have to think, which is the best way to convey a very difficult subject or a very complex situation, visual data. David McCandles speaks in this Ted video about the visual representation of unfamiliar data, which will surprise you, make you laugh, and warm your heart. Who knew that simple data could be so touching and so beautiful?
Saturday, August 21, 2010
QR codes : The future of Advertising and Communications
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| QR code for my website amandaroberts.info |
QR stands for "quick response" and was first invented in Japan in 1990's. These QR codes were invented by Denso Corp. of Japan to first track automobile parts. But this technology, was soon used on Billboards and JumboTrons to as a communication device. Japan has had smart phones years before us and their audience was ready for this type of technology.
The great thing about QR codes is it can be read vertically or horizontally. And there is so much potential here. Just imagine your new product getting promoted on a JumboTron and watching an audience of people point their camera phones at your ad, scan it, and take them to your site. In seconds you could be watching them surf to your website and read, learn, and buy your product instantly.
Currently the downside to this technology is I don't have a smart phone with internet, and I only have an iPod with no camera. So, as of today I can't play with this technology. But you can if you have an iPhone, Android, or Blackberry phone with a working camera, QR reader, and internet. Other smart phones can carry this technology so check with your provider and see this website for more ways to can get a QR reader on your smart devices.
Also if you what to be techie yourself and get your own personal QR code ready for your future promotion I found this QR code generator site where you can type in a URL, Text, SMS, or phone number to generate your QR code and get networking. P.S., to check to see if your QR code works, if you don't have a smart phone, go here.
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| Pepsi QR advertisements |
Monday, August 16, 2010
Tiny Letterpress
A small Letterpress Machine!!!!
This new at-home Letterpress Machine - a table top unit that allows you to create homemade letterpress cards and crafts. A truly amazing and affordable way to make your own letterpress creations! The Letterpress Machine Combo Kit includes everything you need to get started letterpress printing right away. Kit includes: Letterpress tool, Epic 6 machine, Clear packing mat with packing sheet, Ink brayer, Ink base, Black letterpress ink, Letterpress paper (10 sheets of A2 flat), Paper positioning guides, and Printing plates, Printing plate adhesive. Are you thinking this good be the best way to make gorgeous business cards?
Just my type, A book about fonts
This sounds like a very cool book, if you like fonts and type, and British humor. Just My Type: A Book About Fonts
by Simon Garfield comically writes about favorite fonts informing you about their history, popular uses and abuses. If you want to get an idea of the tone of this book it goes something like this "well, I am apparently the last person on earth to know that Eric Gill had sex with dogs and wrote about it, and may have committed incest"; which was loosely paraphrased by Book cover designed in-house at Profile by art director Peter Dyer. Sign up on Amazon.com to get an email when it comes out.
by Simon Garfield comically writes about favorite fonts informing you about their history, popular uses and abuses. If you want to get an idea of the tone of this book it goes something like this "well, I am apparently the last person on earth to know that Eric Gill had sex with dogs and wrote about it, and may have committed incest"; which was loosely paraphrased by Book cover designed in-house at Profile by art director Peter Dyer. Sign up on Amazon.com to get an email when it comes out. Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Most Useful Product Designs of 2010
Throughout the spring and summer I have been finding fun and interesting products. Below are my top picks for the best 2010 summer products for their design, creativity and usefulness.
The Easy Bloom is the best thing that ever happened to the brown thumb individual. Its a cleverly designed garden sensor, in the shape of a flower, that you push into the ground to inform you about the soil conditions in your yard. Once the Easy Bloom is planted it starts collecting useful data, such as sun exposure, moisture, fertilizer and temperature. And if you think that's cool, all that information can be translated for you. The Easy Bloom just gets plugged into your USB port, connects you to their website and instantly recommends what plants, trees, vegetables, etc can successfully grow in that spot. This definitely takes the guesswork out of gardening, and for $50 it can save to hundreds.
The Folding Portable Notebook BBQ Grill by Fire Sense is perfect grill if you like to walk along the beach, hike in the woods, or just move around a lot and can't take the grill with you. Its the finest in British design, at a little under 2" long and about 18" wide (about 14 high when standing) it weighs only 8.32 lbs, this grill really is as easy to carry as a notebook computer. Its a charcoal grill that folds down to 1 inch flat and even comes with its own carrying bag. Don't worry its painted steel construction is durable and heat resistant. For around $50 this is a handy cooker.
Is your cupboard filled with odd sized measuring cups and spoons for dry and wet measurements, and then you have a scale to measure everything else? Well, there is a solvent for that. Taylor has designed a Multi-use measuring cup that not only measures the cup but will also measure the weight of what you put into it. The Taylor Measuring cup and scale automatically converts 5 preset ingredients - flour, sugar, milk, water and oil - from ounces (weight) to cups (volume). General foods and ingredients are also measured in ounces/pounds or grams. And to take less out of your worries it has a low battery warning, and auto shut off. Price ranges around $25-$35.
Do you often loose your keys? Well then ZOMM ,the world's first wireless leash, is the product for you. It's a small device that can hang on your key chain and communicates with your cell phone via Bluetooth. Say your at a restaurant and you accidentally leave your phone on the table as you start walking towards the door, ZOMM will start crying out by setting off an alarm, flashing, and/or vibrating. This crybaby also works as a speaker phone and as a emergency call assistant. By pushing the Z-button down you can answer your call, hold the button down for a full 9 seconds it will sound a loud panic alarm and if you continue holding the Z- button for an additional 5 seconds it will call for emergency assistance. ZOMM retails for around $80 and charges via USB cord.
Coming late 2010 is Horizon's Hydrofill fuel cell system, it is a system that extracts hydrogen from water to be later used as energy for electrical devices. This energy can be transported and stored in a battery shaped HydroSTIK cartridge. The HydroSTIK is non-toxic, eco-friendly, and will be priced well as its release later 2010. Horizon says, "Each HydroSTIK can store 15Wh of energy, enough for 1-2 charges of a 3G smartphone, or 2-3 charges for average cellphones, which is more than what present primary and rechargeable batteries are able to offer at equivalent cost".
 |
| Easy Bloom Garden Sensor |
The Easy Bloom is the best thing that ever happened to the brown thumb individual. Its a cleverly designed garden sensor, in the shape of a flower, that you push into the ground to inform you about the soil conditions in your yard. Once the Easy Bloom is planted it starts collecting useful data, such as sun exposure, moisture, fertilizer and temperature. And if you think that's cool, all that information can be translated for you. The Easy Bloom just gets plugged into your USB port, connects you to their website and instantly recommends what plants, trees, vegetables, etc can successfully grow in that spot. This definitely takes the guesswork out of gardening, and for $50 it can save to hundreds.
 |
| Folding Portable Notebook BBQ Grill |
The Folding Portable Notebook BBQ Grill by Fire Sense is perfect grill if you like to walk along the beach, hike in the woods, or just move around a lot and can't take the grill with you. Its the finest in British design, at a little under 2" long and about 18" wide (about 14 high when standing) it weighs only 8.32 lbs, this grill really is as easy to carry as a notebook computer. Its a charcoal grill that folds down to 1 inch flat and even comes with its own carrying bag. Don't worry its painted steel construction is durable and heat resistant. For around $50 this is a handy cooker.
 |
| 3890 Taylor Measuring Cup and Scale |
Is your cupboard filled with odd sized measuring cups and spoons for dry and wet measurements, and then you have a scale to measure everything else? Well, there is a solvent for that. Taylor has designed a Multi-use measuring cup that not only measures the cup but will also measure the weight of what you put into it. The Taylor Measuring cup and scale automatically converts 5 preset ingredients - flour, sugar, milk, water and oil - from ounces (weight) to cups (volume). General foods and ingredients are also measured in ounces/pounds or grams. And to take less out of your worries it has a low battery warning, and auto shut off. Price ranges around $25-$35.
 |
| ZOMM, comes in white and black |
Do you often loose your keys? Well then ZOMM ,the world's first wireless leash, is the product for you. It's a small device that can hang on your key chain and communicates with your cell phone via Bluetooth. Say your at a restaurant and you accidentally leave your phone on the table as you start walking towards the door, ZOMM will start crying out by setting off an alarm, flashing, and/or vibrating. This crybaby also works as a speaker phone and as a emergency call assistant. By pushing the Z-button down you can answer your call, hold the button down for a full 9 seconds it will sound a loud panic alarm and if you continue holding the Z- button for an additional 5 seconds it will call for emergency assistance. ZOMM retails for around $80 and charges via USB cord.
 |
| Horizon fuel cell system, Hydrofill, the Hydrogen battery AC / solar /wind compatible |
Coming late 2010 is Horizon's Hydrofill fuel cell system, it is a system that extracts hydrogen from water to be later used as energy for electrical devices. This energy can be transported and stored in a battery shaped HydroSTIK cartridge. The HydroSTIK is non-toxic, eco-friendly, and will be priced well as its release later 2010. Horizon says, "Each HydroSTIK can store 15Wh of energy, enough for 1-2 charges of a 3G smartphone, or 2-3 charges for average cellphones, which is more than what present primary and rechargeable batteries are able to offer at equivalent cost".
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