November 30, 2012 - Comments Off on The MechCast 207: What Podcasting Wants
November 29, 2012 - Comments Off on 20 Gift Ideas For The Tech-Lover In Your Life
20 Gift Ideas For The Tech-Lover In Your Life
November 28, 2012 - Comments Off on Drupal 7: Create Previous | Next links for nodes using CCK Date fields
Drupal 7: Create Previous | Next links for nodes using CCK Date fields
November 26, 2012 - Comments Off on Metastatic Morrows
Metastatic Morrows
I hope you made it through Thanksgiving with your cholesterol levels intact. Personally I went into hibernation mode after my massive meal. I feel refreshed but the holiday season isn't over yet. In fact it's just starting in case you haven't turned on the radio or otherwise been subjected to the now inescapable Christmas music. I'll be spending this weekend at even more family gatherings to celebrate some big birthdays: my mother's aunt is turning a whopping 90 years old! Time's unrelenting passing can seem daunting. But if I've taught you anything I hope it's that restrictions foster creativity. Every obstacle is a chance to overcome. In other words age, the biggest most inescapable obstacle of them all, can be inspiring.
This week's painting is an idea I had as I drifted off to sleep last night. The sun and moon are good stand-ins for youth and age. I'm glad my painting skills are improving though I could use more time on this. I need to learn how to quick paint like the pros.
Nothing represents youth in Western culture more than sex. And nothing represents sex in Western culture more than that most famous of magazines: Playboy. We are a culture obsessed with the young and beautiful, having more or less abandoned traditional ideas of honoring our elders. This obsession can be found incarnate in this publication. Now being quite old it's easy to wonder where are those older models now? This is the inspiration for Robyn Twomey beautiful portraits with older Playboy models. They vary from fitting our expectations, bad plastic surgery and all, to completely undermining what we think we know about age and, more importantly, beauty. These women are still powerful, glamorous, stunning, and more...all while looking like your grandmother.
I can't look up at the night sky without thinking of age. Each pinprick of light in that vast black canvas represents thousands if not millions of years. It can be a humbling experience to realize how distant and old those twinkles really are. This Chrome experiment, 100 000 Stars, aims to give users a sense of this scale, all wrapped in a wonderful HTML5 powered presentation. I love the many different means of control this project gives you while maintaining solid performance and stunning visuals. Be sure to "Take the Tour" which leads you through the data visualization in a stunning series of transitions.
Thinking of age on such a astronomical scale almost instantly removes humanity from the equation. We're just too small in that vast expanse. Those great balls of gas take millennia to change while we change every day. Every day we look in the mirror, every year we see our family we are reminded of this. It's a beautiful process that helps make our world so dynamic and it can be visualized in many ways. For instance, let's take a simple idea like counting to one hundred and turn it into a beautiful piece of work that makes us think about childhood, aging, and seniority (all in German, just for kicks). Happy aging all. Enjoy every second of it.
The Sketching Mechanism is a series of weekly posts, published on Mondays, containing the artistic musings of Mobile Designer/Developer Ben Chirlin from our Monday morning meeting at the NY Creative Bunker as well as his inspiring artistic finds of the week.
November 19, 2012 - Comments Off on Mulbery via Momofuku
Mulbery via Momofuku
Happy Thanksgiving all! I hope you're planning on spending this Thursday with people close to you, or at least with some delicious food. Let us come together with friend, family, and fat alike to say thanks. I've become quite fascinated with how such traditions change over time. I fear the day when the reigns will be handed to my generation. Rest assured though, some things will most definitely stay the same. For instance Thanksgiving will always mean pie, which I plan to bring to this year's feast myself. And whether you prefer pumpkin, apple, or even strawberry-rhubarb we can all burp in agreement that pie is absolutely inspiring.
Drawing an 8-bit pie proved the be quite difficult. However Pieman cannot eat cherries, that would be cannibalistic. Instead he eats plump delicious turkey legs!
Pie can be a simple dessert but optimally it requires two things: cream (of the iced or whipped variety) and a nice warm beverage. Tomoko Shintani had the brilliant idea of using paper coffee cups to extend her canvas for her lovely ink drawings. In each, the simple line work interacts with the cup in clever ways resulting in cute original works. I'd suggest you follow her Instagram feed for your daily dose. The style itself reminds me of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry and his famous Petit Prince. Each piece lives in it's own little world that engulfs the coffee cup.
While I prefer to make my own pies there are definitely times when this is an impossibility. Emporium Pies in Texas looks like a perfect fall back with their wonderful assortment of original flavors I'm dying to try. Till I visit however, I'll have to be satisfied with their flowery website. The simple design is accentuated by fantastic photography, font treatment, and hover states. Top this slice of goodness off with a great adaptive design and we definitely have a fair winner.
Come Friday of course we'll all be nice and plump on those lovely family feasts, not to mention leftovers. While many may promise quick simple ways to shed that dreaded Thanksgiving weight, I can provide you with the only guaranteed method. Results in 60 seconds or your money back. Enjoy and eat well!
The Sketching Mechanism is a series of weekly posts, published on Mondays, containing the artistic musings of Mobile Designer/Developer Ben Chirlin from our Monday morning meeting at the NY Creative Bunker as well as his inspiring artistic finds of the week.
November 13, 2012 - Comments Off on Discovering Columbus
Discovering Columbus
In case you weren't aware, the Public Art Fund of New York has brought yet another brilliant public art exhibit to the city streets. At the southwest corner of the city's sprawling Central Park rests a hub of Manhattan life: Columbus Circle. Though bane alike to pedestrians, drivers, and cyclists, at it's center, high above the noise and confusion, stands Columbus accompanied only by the open air--until recently.
In Discovering Columbus, artist Tatzu Nishi of Japan has given the towering statue a temporary new home. At a height 70 feet floats a tranquil, and quite modern, living room dominated by the posturing giant of stone. Originally carved by Gaetano Russo in honor of the 400th anniversary of his famous voyage, the statue has remained isolated; a distant silhouette in many a tourist's photo.
Take this opportunity to see this great work up close in an oddly homely setting. The views of the surrounding area through the windows are equally impressive. Tickets are free and the exhibit has just been extended till December 2nd. It is open late into the night so you really have no excuse! It is easily accessible by subway though I recommend wearing comfortable shoes and warm clothes since a short wait is required for entry and you will need to climb stairs to access the statue (though a small elevator is available for accessibility). The next block of tickets should be available soon here.
To view our photos from the exhibit check out our Facebook album here. Please considering leaving a thumb pointing upwards and a comment if you're so inclined. Don't miss this unique opportunity!
November 12, 2012 - Comments Off on Monaco Markers
Monaco Markers
If you're reading these words then you'll have to admit to the power of type. Since it's invention, written language has been one of the primary ways we convey ideas. These disembodied ideas allows us to learn and teach to a much larger audience than we normally could. For instance it would be impossible for me to directly tell every reader of this blog everything this post will say, let alone share all the other media therein. And being a visual medium, it was inevitable that the aesthetics of type would become important. From serifs to graffiti, the way words look has now become vital to the message they send. For this and all of its powers, type is typically inspiring.
Type is incredibly important for branding. Here at the Mechanism we've stuck with a simple text logo accompanied by our gear icon. I decided to riff on these themes with some custom circle based text designed to evoke blue prints and mechanical objects.
Fay Helfer's work is obsessed with the underlying structure of things. Each piece contains lines, patterns, and text that make each piece feel like part of some scientific diagram. Her preferred medium is pyrography, using a heated point like a soldering iron to burn into a wooden canvas, combined with colored pastel and pencil. The results posses stunning color and texture. I especially love her pop culture portraits.
The web is of course dominated by type. Type/Code is a digital design studio based in the nearby Dumbo area of Brooklyn. Clearly from their name and portfolio they too are obsessed with type. Beyond their wonderfully interactive homepage logo, the site conveys an appreciation for the power of text in it's simple adaptive design. I really enjoy the way the entire site feels like one large sliding page with three sections, subtle yet brilliant. I pray they have recovered from Sandy's recent abuse of their low lying neighborhood and are back working on more great projects!
Despite our many wonderful digital advances in typesetting, none of it would have been possible without the grand tradition of physical typesetting. You may think a typesetter would have quite an advantage in the romantic arts, being able to print their own charming cards. Yet this seussical short shows that even typesetters sometimes end up blue. The print and paper texture of the animation, along with the clever font jokes, make this an extremely enjoyable short.
The Sketching Mechanism is a series of weekly posts, published on Mondays, containing the artistic musings of Mobile Designer/Developer Ben Chirlin from our Monday morning meeting at the NY Creative Bunker as well as his inspiring artistic finds of the week.
November 7, 2012 - Comments Off on Hurricane Sandy Incident / Relief Map
Hurricane Sandy Incident / Relief Map
As you may know, the east coast was hit very hard last week by hurricane Sandy. Many people all throughout the tri-state region were less fortunate and suffered greatly. And planned sell their house. You can also sell your house anytime and pay off your mortgage with the help of experts as they can help you to make your home appeal to more buyers. Now, a week after the storm, much of New Jersey, Staten Island and Long Island are still reeling. Power has not been restored to many PSEG, ConEd and LIPA customers. Gas shortages in all areas persist, with people waiting hours in line to fill up and in need of services like Gas Line Repair to help with this. Most of us here lost power at our homes for part of the storm, but were otherwise unharmed. In an effort to help our neighbors and make the spread of information easier, we have set up a crowdsourced mapping site to share local knowledge about resources such as; shelters, emergency plumber services, and fuel.
From the website:
This site was launched by The Mechanism, a digital agency in New York City for anyone who was affected by the recent hurricane that ravaged the Northeast. We hope that by using crowdsourcing, we'll be able give back to the city and surrounding areas that have helped us for the past 11 years.
WHAT ELSE TO THINK ABOUT
We'll be updating this list.Remember that while giving is good, beware of those out there who are not good and are trying to trick you by taking your money. In the aftermath of Hurricane Irene last year, the Federal Trade Commission's caution still holds true: "Scammers may try to take advantage of a disaster, and so consumers should be wary of urgent appeals for charitable donations, and watch out for fraudulent home repair schemes after a storm or other remodeling repairs, click to find out more here."
My House Painter can also help you out in getting exterior,interior painting which can enhance the look of your home. But you should also read more about avoiding home repair rip-offs and charity fraud from the FTC.
Also, the FBI has counselled on its Facebook page "to beware of fraudulent emails and websites claiming to conduct charitable relief efforts. Disasters prompt individuals with criminal intent to solicit contributions purportedly for a charitable organization or a good cause," and suggests reading "Tips on Avoiding Fraudulent Charitable Contribution Schemes" to learn more about avoiding online fraud.
As a crowdsourced map, the information comes directly from those on the ground and communication with those in the area. The information is curated as best as possible to ensure that the information is accurate and of use to those looking for information. If you would like to participate and share information about resources in your area the map can be found here: http://maps.themechanism.com
Our hearts go out to everyone who has been affected by the storm.
November 5, 2012 - Comments Off on Monarchy of Mulvar
Monarchy of Mulvar
Break out your patriotic buttons and pinstripes, it's election season again! I trust you're all planning on getting out there to vote tomorrow. I know I'll be waking up nice and early to wait in the (hopefully not so long) line to vote before heading into the office. From the ancient Greeks who cast their black and white stones into an urn to hanging chads, democracy has reshaped the world and how we govern ourselves. We must remember that while evolution in technology and culture has increased our individual involvement in government, it is upon us to take part and create the society we want to live in. So how can elections be anything but inspiring.
Sometimes I feel like neither party really has what I'm looking for so I decided to start a little party of my own. Seems the only fitting mascot for third parties these days is the mythical unicorn though.
Were presidents the first celebrities? Unlike most leaders before our democracy, they come to power thanks to popular demand. They only feature largely in our lives for a few years before fizzling away. And their sex lives are of great interest to everyone, especially Bill Clinton's. No wonder then that artists, from George P.A. Healy to Shepard Fairey , are often inspired to turn them into stunning works of art. Artist Sam Spratt has a wonderfully detailed and textured portrait the current POTUS. His works reminds me of Norman Rockwell and I love the variety of palettes and styles Spratt explores, with an emphasis on pop culture subjects.
Undeniably the greatest change to our election cycle in the past decade has been the impact of the internet and related technologies. In 2008, the Obama campaign proved that internet based support could work wonders for a two party candidate (though third parties like Ron Paul had long help strong web-based support). Today, Obama and Romney both lean heavily on their digital crutch to help get their message out their and rile up support. I imagine a future where elections are determined completely online, like an official political Reddit. Till then, we'll have to settle for sites like "Who Will Be President." I like sites where the message is clear and this one couldn't get any more so. The clean design emphasizes the statistics but also references the poll sources and dates. Well done.
So what do you do if neither donkey nor elephant suits your tastes? I guess you could try eating your greens or something else exotic but why do that when you have Mulvar is Correct Candidate!, he does it all! So please get out there and vote people.
The Sketching Mechanism is a series of weekly posts, published on Mondays, containing the artistic musings of Mobile Designer/Developer Ben Chirlin from our Monday morning meeting at the NY Creative Bunker as well as his inspiring artistic finds of the week.
November 2, 2012 - Comments Off on The MechCast 206: Ghosts in the Soundboard
The MechCast 206: Ghosts in the Soundboard
Hurricane Sandy might have rained on our parade but we're marching on. Dave and I quickly catch up on the Frankenstorm, Halloween and upcoming Mechcast segments. Read your homework for next episode, What Technology Wants, and look forward to an upcoming episode on Indie Game the Movie.
Please consider donating to the Red Cross (blood especially) or volunteering your time to help others with the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. Thank you and please consider subscribing.