nubook

I was fortunate enough to receive an invitation to nubook over the weekend and I can honestly say that if you've been searching for a tool to power your portfolio - this is it. Similarities can be drawn to Cargo Collective (which I love), Carbonmade or VIRB but it stands on its own. Sections and pages are easy to use, there's a slew of tight templates to work with right out of the gate and everything just works. You don't have to learn any code or get over any learning curve - if you know how to drag an image into a browser and type words; you're ready to go.

There's an intro video if you're curious to see it in action or you can just dig through some example sites to get a feel for how it all turns out.

Gregory Crewdson: Brief Encounters

Is it safe to assume you know the works of Gregory Crewdson? If not, browse through Google Images to get a sense of his tone - quite realistic with an air of surreal or Something Not Quite Right.

Great, now that we know our subject - take a moment to familiarize yourself with the forthcoming movie Brief Encounters. Filmmaker Ben Shapiro documents the process, the people involved and the man himself during the creation of these, often, epic images. It's really rather strange to call Crewdson a "photographer" - as he seems to be more of an Art Director or Artistic Visionary (if that's a term you're comfortable using). Whatever he is, he's an interesting guy creating some rather engaging images. I look forward to seeing the film.

Shane McAdam's Ballpoint Pen Paintings

Not all of the works of Shane McAdams are as abstract as the two above but from this gallery I can tell that the simpler he keeps things, the more it appeals to me. The process of creation is pretty mindblowing.

McAdams takes ink from the pen cartridges and pours them onto the canvas surface, blowing on the ink to create the streaks of color. But the experimental nature of his works doesn’t stop there. He then subjects his works to the powerful lights of a tanning salon which cause a chemical reaction to the pen ink which then creates the tie dyed streaked effect.

Thanks to Beautiful/Decay for the heads up and rundown.

Brian Dettmer 2012

I recall seeing the works of Brian Dettmer back in 2007 and, turns out, he's been rather busy since then. This gallery should give you a decent overview of some of his latest and greatest but I do recommend diving head on into his official portfolio and seeing all the offered works from the past few years.. it's nothing short of jawdropping.

Uncle Skeleton - Tomart's Haunted Heart

In an ongoing promotional effort for the forthcoming Uncle Skeleton album, All Too Human, there will be a handful of singles released. The first, Sophisticuffs, is hopefully already on your radar and being enjoyed regularly (it's on Rdio / Spotify / etc now). Today, I'm happy to announce the official release of the second single - "Tomart's Haunted Heart."

It's a free download and comes packaged with two remixes and two unreleased b-sides. I realize I'm biased but it's a real pleasure to listen to. Please go get it and maybe tell a friend (assuming you like... which you will).

Lisberger Studios Intro

This animation for Lisberger Studios was, apparently, part of the experimentation and pitch work used to get the original TRON movie made. This may be old news to many but it's new to me. It's actually odd to see a super crisp version as it loses some of its VHS-y charm. Regardless, it's an interesting bit of cinema / animation history worth having a look at.

Show Me Your Teeth

Been browsing the photostream of Ryan Charles this morning thanks to a heads up from Young Whale. Captures like Show Me Your Teeth or this New York skyline are great.. dig through the rest to find more gems.

Andreas Feininger

These photos from Andreas Feininger depicting a handful of Coney Island rides late at night via long exposure are gorgeous. There's not much more to say - it's just true.

via ckck.

Goodbye Hashbang

Take a moment to read through this conversation regarding Twitter ditching hashbangs in their URLs. Dan Wrong confirms that it's PushState or bust. Hopefully this means that the Twitter website won't be the mess of refreshes and page flickers that it is now - does anyone actually use the web version? What a nightmare.

yk mix: Incursion Excursion

It's been almost a month since I posted my last mix and it was focused entirely on 2011 music. So, it's high time for a new one. Enter Incursion Excursion, a compilation of tracks that I've been listening to rather intensely lately. The overall flow of the mix may not be my finest work but I think the diversity of song selections will more than make up for it.

[ Single MP3 | Single M4A | Individual MP3 ZIP | Stream It ]

1. White Rabbits - Heavy Metal
2. Here We Go Magic - Make Up Your Mind
3. Jacques Dutronc - Et moi, et moi, et moi
4. Hospitality - Friends Of Friends
5. Uncle Skeleton - Sophisticuffs
6. AIR - Seven Stars
7. By Lightning - Take a Rest on Me
8. Dr. Dog - Over Here, Over There
9. Lee Fields & The Expressions - Ladies
10. Thin Lizzy - Waiting For An Alibi
11. Jessie Baylin - Little Spark
12. Sharon Van Etten - Serpents
13. Charlie Rich - The Most Beautiful Girl
14. The Beatles - Here Comes The Sun (Synth and Strings)

I think, where applicable, if you like anything you hear on this one you really should dive into the full album that said track spawns from. I can personally vouch for each and everyone one and they're all crazy good.

Voyager3

Voyager 3 is the blog of Brendan Zabarauskas documenting "explorations into procedural village generation." The purpose behind it all is a forthcoming game but the lo-fi landscapes (and occasional space scenes) are captivating in and of themselves. I look forward to the actual fruits of this labor but I'm also entirely satisfied with being engaged by the still images.

via Brandonnn.

Basecamp Next Insight

If you haven't been seeing the news about Basecamp Next, go check it out. They've got a preview and some interesting technical insight into how they are building it. It's got me quite curious to check out more about pjax and implementing that for some lower server overhead.

Regardless of your thoughts on 37 Signals, it's always nice to read about so much process from a company making such a popular product.

Friday Videos - Feb 17th, 2012

Another week, another playlist that I hope provides the proper amount of amusement and distraction to kick off your weekend.

• Stereo Skifcha - remember this incredible gif? Well, here's the original video and the Dubstep remix, included in the playlist, is every bit as good.
• Orphic Oxtra - Skeletons Having Sex on a Tin Roof - don't let that title dissuade you from a proper viewing. This is 3 minutes of bizarre, completely enthused, dancing. The title is irrelevant, the visual is the treat.
• Happy Valentine's Day Miley - I remember being a kid and being obsessed about particular subjects but this really, to me, falls into a creepy category that I'm just not comfortable with. via Chris.
• Jealous Alpha Male Monkey "Attacks" Man - you know what's coming from a mile away but you could never predict that build-up that comes with it.
• The Octopus Dance - let this video embody the free spirit you should strive to embrace over the weekend and, honestly, in the entirety of your life.
• 100 Greatest Nicolas Cage Quotes - did you know that the new Ghost Rider movie is based on Cage's life, sorta. Basically, he's a complete nut and completely comfortable with it. This is not a new observation in any way. Watch the video and tally just how many of them are just yelling. Here's a spoiler, it's damn near 100%.

BONUS

• Bill Cosby - Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band - I was going to link this in a mocking way but then I realized I loved it. Maybe you will as well. via Paul.
• LED Surfer - not exactly a ridiculous video but an impressive one. Filmmaker Jacob Sutton filmed snowboarder Will Hughes wearing a suit covered in LED lights - providing the only light source for the film. Unsurprisingly, the results are great.
• Miniature Drum Solo - because I love that this even exists.

Have a great weekend!

The Evolution Of Louis CK

Check out this great tribute video on the Evolution of Louis CK matching up CK's portions of this Carlin tribute and clips from his career - giving everything a bit of additional context. It's inspiring on a number of levels - 1) that you could trash everything you've known for 15 years and start anew and 2) that you could churn out something new and better once a year from that point forward. It's certainly not new insight into how Louis CK works but it's a great reminder on being determined.

Clay Johnson "Is SEO Killing America?"

When you have some time today or this weekend or whenever please watch this Clay Johnson piece on "Is SEO Killing America?" He makes a rather solid case for how our current form of news media creation and consumption is on par with eating poorly. I won't spoil it but let's just say that "Pizza tastes better than broccoli" and the same mindset applies to news that is skewed in your basic opinion (be it Right or Left). Okay, so maybe I did spoil it but his insight on how to fix the problem is rather compelling. I'm not sure it could be pulled off but it'd be pretty phenomenal if it happened.

Marianna Rothen

Jeremy gave me the heads up on the works of Marianna Rothen. Her works consists, mainly, of convincingly vintage looking images of various women - often (tastefully) nude. I'm a big fan of the Domesticated Woman series - mostly due to the fact that all the women in it seem rather unfulfilled with their domesticity. This or this is begging to be an album cover somewhere (if it's not already).

I've been through every set on her site, as well as her blog, and confirm they remain compelling throughout. Enjoy.

Everything is a Remix Part 4

Our system of law doesn't acknowledge the derivative nature of creativity. Instead, ideas are regarded as property, as unique and original lots with distinct boundaries. But ideas aren't so tidy. They're layered, they’re interwoven, they're tangled. And when the system conflicts with the reality... the system starts to fail.

The fourth (and final) entry from Kirby Ferguson in his Everything is a Remix series; examining the systems that we use for creation and the overlap of ideas between them. If you haven't seen any of these, start with Part 1 and you'll be hooked.

Looks like he's got a new project in the works as well.. so check that out after you're done watching the above.

Irene Suchocki

There's an incredible amount of gorgeous architecture and landscape photography to take in from Irene Suchocki and, as far as I can tell, it's all well worth your time. The photos of New York are riveting.. and that's just the tip of the iceberg. Dive in.

HT Kate.

Triforce Tribute

Videogame inspired art can be pretty hit or miss - usually erring more on the side of overly kitschy and goofy. On the surface, that's certainly not the worst thing in the world but it's great when someone is able to take a nostalgic subject matter and create works that evoke more than a silly giggle. So, when I ran across the Triforce Tribute show opening up in Portland on March 9th at Land Gallery I was hesitant. However, with the likes of Frank Chimero, Jez Burrows, Olly Moss and a huge host of others involved it's hard to go wrong. Especially since it's all being curated by Jolby and Always With Honor - no slackers themselves in the impressive work department.

Long story short, if you live in PDX - go see this. If not, cross your fingers that there will be a robust online version to immerse yourself in.

CoolHandLuke Photostream

Pretty sure I am incredibly late to the party when it comes to the works of Luke Byrne. His slice of life photography runs the gamut of debaucherous party times, some quiet moments, some perfectly beautiful captures and everything else you'd expect someone living a full rich life not stuck behind a computer should see.

Don't miss this one and then follow along on Tumblr.

Multi-direction Hover

This Multi-Directional Hover proof of concept is impressive not just for the idea behind it but for the actual code powering it - all CSS, no Javascript. Granted, this isn't really something that you're going to implement regularly throughout a site but it could certainly be beneficial in a number of situations.

Aereo - Internet meets TV

Sometimes you encounter devices that should serve as a reminder that you are absolutely living in "the future." Aereo falls into that category. The service enables you to watch broadcast TV from anywhere that you have a speedy enough Internet connection and their software installed. You can even DVR any of the programming for playback later. The intro video on the site explains it well but, apparently, they've taken the standard television antenna and shrunken it down to the size of a dime - enabling them to put thousands in a very small space and assign a unique one per customer.

Will it have roadblocks? Probably. Is it unfortunate that it's only available in New York starting in March? Sure. Is it a ridiculously good idea that should be pursued further and further? I absolutely think so.

Side note: the site design is totally awesome - browse every page.

Au Petit Panisse

CSS Awards recently recognized the site for restaurant Au Petit Panisse. Rightfully so of them because it's an phenomenal piece of work. The design is inspiring, the interactions are all top notch (love those icons in the menu). On the whole, it keeps it simple while still being something different from your standard restaurant site. Plus, those enormous background images give you a hell of an immersive feeling.

HT Jamie.

Luxe Business Cards

Moo, the creators of the tiny business card, have launched a new undertaking with Luxe - a super thick, triple stacked business card. Honestly, it's three times as thick as the standard business card. Almost too thick. The optional stripe of color along the edges is a rather nice touch and the price is ridiculously affordable. It may be time to get my act together and actually get some cards.

HT Chad.

IOS '86

I'll admit it, I love the look of this iOS `86 design excursion. The lo-fi vibe is perfectly nostalgic to the world of computing I grew up with (and I didn't even have a Mac - I was a Tandy 1000 kinda guy). The icons are spot on. Well played Anton Repponen.