what did we create: lady gaga's telephone

i have begun learning flash. last wednesday was my first class using the software and then i had two more classes on monday. the learning curve has been high - i've watched a great number of tutorials and scoured the adobe flash cs4 help system plenty but i now have a pretty nifty interface to show for it. click below to give it a go! (i'm banking on everyone having seen the infamous music video by now. the two versions (clean and explicit) currently have a total of 35.5 million views)

LADY GAGA'S TELEPHONE

what did we love: hammock - breathturn

Hammock - Breathturn from David Altobelli on Vimeo.

this is a gorgeous gorgeous video. thanks to ben for posting it.

it makes me feel so peaceful amidst my slightly crazy life and the boy acts so perfectly.
not much to say because you should watch it for yourself and think what you like.

From the album "Chasing After Shadows... Living with the Ghosts" (May 18, 2010)

Director/Editor: David Altobelli
Prod. Co: Conker All / Symphony 19
Exec. Producers: Jesse Fleece / Kelly Norris Sarno
Producer: Ross Girard
Prod. Coordinator: Stuart Denton

Director of Photography: Larkin Seiple
1st AC: Ken Tanaka
Gaffer: Koby Poulton
Key Grip: Luke Hanlein

Production Design: Ethan Feldbau
Stylist: Gabby Canton
Makeup: Katie Machaiek
VFX: Hank Friedman

what did we listen to: passion pit - smile upon me

song on continuous play

Oh yeah, you're the best damn friend that I'll ever have.
You'll smile upon me when the seasons bad.
You'll always make me feel best even when I'm blue
You'll smile upon me and I'll smile upon you

looking up concert tickets. it's been a while since i've been to one. (chairlift in september)

what did we set in type

so the fall semester of sophomore year for communication design students at parsons consists of a lot of typography work. two core classes: type studio and type lab, plus display lettering was my elective so i was basically immersed in a world of type. immersed.

this semester i have no typography classes though i will always believe that alllll design work has to do with typography. hence i don't seem to have seen so much type around.

but here's a post on typography!

Bread + Butter Card: Everything Will Be Okay

work by bread + butter studio based in brooklyn new york. love their print work.

Bread + Butter card: You and Me

Bread + Butter Card: Good Luck, I Love You

Typographic Map: 13th to 314 by Kristin Bonett

more design: related perusal and i came across this wonderful poster that is a perfect example of well set type using a milieu of typefaces in a very effective manner.
dogs as typefaces by tina roth eisenberg of swiss miss

something my friend geoff wong linked me to randomly. i find it pretty funny though some dogs are more suitable than others. univers, times, eurostile and kunstler are the best to me.

and that's my typography refuel for now.

what did we come across: bennett robots

bennett robots are currently being displayed in the window of paul smith on fifth ave and 16th street which is where i came across the wonderfully crafted objects.

they are each unique sculptures made from found objects by gordon bennett. they each take about a month to build, are all on sale and cost some hefty prices. though not real functional robots with any actually working parts i find them incredibly imaginative and fun. pictured here in order are: volt ohmyst, nick and nora, and arvin 2. (and i kind of like arvin 2 the best because the hitchhikers guide robot was named marvin.)

what did we revisit: i love you more than _________

so way back last year in august i posted about some Supermarket goods that i'd like and today i came back across one of those items while flipping through design: related.

turns out that this tote is actually one of the products of a greater project called "i love you more than _________" (you read the blank as "blank") run by paperwhite studio. anyone can go onto the site and submit their own "i love you more than ________" statements.

they ask you: "what's your measuring stick for love?"

"run by Laureen Moyal and Yuliya Gorlovetsky, in New York city’s lower east side. we began this project with a belief that you can never really evaluate the value of something unless you measure it up to something else. with all the answers that we have received, we know that you must agree. keep submitting, the answers make us smile."

sounds vaguely ironic to me since you can evaluate love without measuring, but there are some really cute answers though i think their heart graphic is a little corny...

some are silly. lots are stupid. most are deeply insider things. don't really know what i would submit if i did submit something - what about you?



i still want the tote and now i kind of want the shirt but only the cards are really within my price range (and i could easily print those myself). i'm such a sucker for mushy things.

what did we listen to: animal

still so obsessed with this song though i've now heard it approximately a million times.

the best part is at 1:54 when the giraffes nod their heads to the beat. nod nod nod.

I change shapes just to hide in this place
But I'm still, I'm still an animal
Nobody knows it but me when I slip
Yeah I slip, I'm still an animal

what did we peruse: design: related

design: related is my latest website of choice for random browsing while i wait for things to render / things to load / my mind to recuperate

while flipping through the gallery, which features "projects" and "inspirations" submitted by members of the site, i came across something that i knew immediately was hong kong.

Gaston Caba, based in buenos aires, made these super cute dolls and had a friend Joel Chung take photos of them in various locations in Hong Kong to be pictured in Pictoplasma Encyclopedia.

gaston caba's work is very colorful, consists mainly of bold vectors and features a great deal of cute animals and other created characters - reminds me of tokidoki and the like that you might describe as sugary-sweet. not everyone's cup of tea but there are some pretty intense patterns.

it made me smile to randomly come across a photo of hong kong when i wasn't expecting it.

what did we rebrand: chiquita

i was catching up on my blog reading -
and came across this article on thedieline about chiquita's brand refresh campaign using really funky stickers in their very eye-catching blue and yellow. you can see even more images of the campaign on thedieline or read about the chiquita campaign here on design: related in an interview with the art director dj neff. (production company: The Famous Group)

favorite excerpts from the interview with dj neff:

"The client’s goals were kind of like that dream brief you get handed that simply says: “Make bananas cool"....but it was still up to us to really figure out strategically what about Chiquita bananas would always be cool."

"So, the hope was by creating the characters, now when they eat the banana, they are even more excited and inspired to put that sticker somewhere special to keep it. The designs themselves had to be fun, so I just thought about all the fun things I like, cartoons, toys, people I know, and they sort of just came out."

"Then our job as designers becomes recognizing the area that our product lives in, or wants to live in, and creating value to allow its seamless placement amongst its peers. "

"But in most cases, there is always something that can be built on, discovered, or championed with any brand. It really just requires spending as much time as you can with the product, immersing yourself in it. Like method designing, you just have to live it and the work will flow through you."


the entire campaign was called "eatachiquita" with the tagline "don't let another good banana go bad" and it also involved a lot of internet usage to get consumers involved and interested. you could make your face into a chiquita sticker version! 24 of the 25 final stickers below. (25th was the redesign of the chiquita woman herself)

what did we want to attend: GIANT ROBOT - Small Favors

planning to try to attend this -
march 27 to april 14 so i figure i can smuggle in some free time...
should be pretty interesting and have some awesome pieces (though i'm not planning to buy anything as they suggest).

"Small Favors is GRNY's big show of small scale artwork. Close to 70 artists were invited to create works in any medium they chose, but at a maximum size of 5 x 5 inches. This show is a great chance to get your hands on some great art for your cozy city space. "

here's their flickr set of some of the art that will be at small favors

tell me if you'd like to accompany me!

what did we love: alex varanese

this series of graphic posters using the color orange (and red tones and white) is so gorgeous. by alex varanese originally on the behance network and which i came across on graphic-exchanGE

simple / bold colors / detailed - full of visual impact.

and more below. i couldn't resist. click above to behance or graphic exchange to see larger images.

the designer really likes reds and oranges and burnt sienna sort of looking things.

what did we bake: buttermilk biscuits!

tonight i made buttermilk biscuits following this recipe from serious eats (except for using cornstarch because it was $3 for quite a large tin and i really didn't plan on having a thing of cornstarch lying around the house afterwards) oh and instead of having them 1/2 inch thick mine are more cookie like and about 1/4 inch thick.

i also hand mixed / hand cut / hand pat all the steps so my forearms feel pretty worked out. my housemate and i split one since all the rest are for church refreshments tmr (college fellowships turn) and she tried to convince me for about 30 minutes that i should run out and buy chocolate frosting and frost all of them. i told her she just wanted to eat the leftover frosting and have an excuse to have it in the house. so they remain as they are.

what did we watch: telephone

best lines:
miss officer: "i told you she didn't have a dick"
"you've been a very bad girl. a very very very bad girl gaga"
"mm mm honey b"

each of the numerous outfits:
- b/w striped power suit
- fishnet tights and black X nipple covers
- cigarette sunglasses and heavy chain bling
- studded jacket with diet coke hair curlers
- black bikini with studs
- something out of my fair lady's ascot scene but with neon blonde hair
- um blue phone headress?
- chef headress with blonde telephone attached!
- guerilla american flag wonder woman
- leopard print jump suit with matching chauffeur hat
- i don't know how to describe the lavender drapey thing that is the last costume gaga wears


best moments of video editing:
super high resolution
shuddering camera
split screen
repetition
really good timing with the music
use of cartoon style graphics / text

most random:
miss officer using plenty of fish "world's largest dating site"
"Let's make a Sandwich"
beyonce's zombie jumps and appearance like a plastic doll
the strange patriotic theme in the last two minutes starting around 7:50 with the use of the american flag for all the outfits and color scheme
ending with the gender sign for females?

and here's the whole thing itself:

what did we watch: the state of the internet

really awesome video about the internet.
only complaint: some parts are a bit too fast to understand all the information being conveyed.
otherwise, pretty crazy motion info-graphic work that gets the ideas across (and a lot of numbers) effectively and in a fun way!

JESS3 / The State of The Internet from JESS3 on Vimeo.

wonder what another 5 years would add to these stats and facts. taking motion graphics this semester makes me wonder if i could ever learn to create such superb pieces of work. and how much time it would take.

(credit to mike tully for posting it on his fb wall which popped up on my mini feed and is an oddly apt story about how i came across this piece)

temporary fill in! chyeah!

i feel awful for not having blogged recently. in fact. in about three weeks. awful.

i'm on a computer enough of the time (all the time except when i'm asleep) that i should be able to blog regularly. so that's some sort of half-promise i've just made in the previous statement.

here's a site full of pretty motion graphics to look at until i gather thoughts to some sort of solid subject matter. PSYOP