Gregor Graf

This Austrian designer mainly focuses on photography and what caught my eye was his work titled "Hidden Town". He took pictures of London, Warsaw and Linz but manipulated them so every hint of advertising and signage was taken out. The street became unrecognisable and looked uninhabited. This clearly shows how much design and advertising has crept into everyday life, so much that without it, places and streets look unnatural.  It's work like this that is so inspirational and mind-opening that makes me like design so much. It also creeps me out how affected the general public are, almost needing the signs to help recognise a place. The title emphasises this focus aswell as the lack of comparison to what it should look like.

Both the pictures are manipulated images of London. My curiosity naturally kicks in, wanting to know which streets they are. Does anyone know?

Graf also does illustration, although I don't find as catchy as his photography but definitely have a look on his website. Most of it is in German which is a little annoying but there are plenty of examples of his work to look at.

Interesting places nearby

This is quite a brilliant idea. The website is rather plain and dull but thats because it's mobile friendly which means it uses less megabytes to download on a mobile phone. But tap in a postcode and 5 interesting things are picked randomly from other sources on the internet in the surrounding area. 

It's really a great idea for those spontaneous moments or mini road trips for people to get to visit the area that's been rated already as interesting. And it's not biased because there aren't big companies promoting their products on it!

have a look here.

Shark on roof

This is a head turner! A massive shark seems to have nose-dived into someone's roof! But actually it was specifically built in memory of the atomic bombings in Nagasaki, 

“The shark was to express someone feeling totally impotent and ripping a hole in their roof out of a sense of impotence and anger and desperation….It is saying something about CND, nuclear, power, Chernobyl and Nagasaki.” Bill Heine (owner of the house) commented to journalist's.

It brought media attention from around the world, aswell as controversy from the locals. Council officials tried to bring it down in terms of health and safety but they found that the support system was well structured. They also tried to take it down because he didn't have any planning permission but an appeal to the secretary state for the environment won the case and the shark stayed. 

This was such a big statement and it still is now. It's reassuring that people still stand their ground on subjects that matter to them, and in a graphical sense, this is certainly inventive and different.

Bulfinch's Mythology

Remember those lessons in classic civilisation? Well this is the reference book about all those greek gods and goddesses compiled into one. Bulfinch was a professor at Harvard and found the need for a complete reference book which contained all the myths, hence this book. These myths, as far-fetched as the seem do actually relate to modern day life in one way or another, and it's a shame the connections aren't really exploited. So it's refreshing to be able to pick up a fantasy/fairytale and know it had a little part in history.

Although this is not the original by Bulfinch himself, it is an abridgment of all the fables, legends and myths put together. 

Type and Typography

Im currently reading this book and although it's quite a slow start, it is very useful for anyone that wants to get into typography. It gives plenty of examples when distinguishing the differences between the typefaces aswell go through the influences from where they came from. 

The only criticism I can give the book is that the writing style is very formal, which I tend to find harder to read.

Thomas Hardy

A while back I watch a documentary on BBC One about the writer and poet. As I had to study his work for english back in school, it was very interesting to be able to grasp a better understanding on his life. He was a very private person, so little was known about him, but Hardy had pretty much documented his life through his books and poetry, writing about his hardships and relationships. 

I really enjoyed watching the programme about him as some of his books were ahead of it's time. Books such as "Far from Madding Crowd" and "Jude the Obscure" brought may fans aswell as critics. The public loved the storylines and characters but others argued it was too obscene and offensive, the themes toyed with traditional beliefs of marriage and religion and instead of representing women as the stereotypical housewife, he often wrote them with a mind and freedom of their own.

Soco and Lime anyone?

Its freshers week so thats why I have alcohol on the brain.

Anyone remember when Southern Comfort tried to start a trend with "Soco"? No doubt that was a flop as soon as the commercial came out....but the interesting part is why?

Jack Daniels became J.D which seemed to flow naturally but Soco just reminds me of Soho in London and the way they repeated it on the advert made it annoying. Like some nerdy group trying to be cool but not managing it. I think they need to rethink their campaign, I love the drink but there's no way I'l serve anyone who asked for a "Soco and Lime" or even be caught asking for one. It may have worked in America but not over here.