Viewing Category: Inspiration
I was at Circuit City a few days ago, browsing the digital camera aisle. My trusty Canon G2 has served me well, but its bulk prevents me from carrying it around with me at all times. I also have to admit that its operating speed is starting to feel a little sluggish compared to the newer cameras. It wouldn't hurt to look, I reasoned.
As I looked over the assembled Nikons, Canons, and Olympus cameras, I found that none of them really moved me. Feature sets, form factors, etc...all of them have pretty much settled into a silvery melange of difficult-to-differentiate product. What stood out most, though, was the surprisingly attractive Kodak EasyShare One and Kodak V570One cameras.
Good-looking consumer electronics design from an American company???
Something a Little Different
I had become used to skipping over the blobby, featureless designs from Kodak and HP for years, preferring the matter-of-factness of Japanese industrial design. They have a visual design vocabulary that's hard for me to describe; part of me thinks it comes from living in high-density urban areas and a love for iconography and fine detail. My favorite American design tends to draws on the bold attitude that accompanies having lots of resources and the space to show it off. Admittedly, I haven't done an exhaustive review of the American design scene other than what I see in big-box retail stores; what I see there isn't very inspiring.
So it's nice to finally come across a couple US-designed cameras that catch my eye.
Innovative Features. The EasyShare One was the first camera, apparently, to have built-in WiFi. It also has a very large LCD back panel with a stylus for clicking things off...that's pretty cool. The V570 has a dual-lens design: one is for zoom, the other is for wide-angle. In practice, the transition between zoom and wide-angle seemed a little sluggish and uneven to me, but it's a great feature, in a compact package.
Nice Design. A lot of American consumer electronics design is just terrible. At best, it gets the job done without being too ugly (Dell comes to mind here). When it comes to making something look awesome, though, it's hard to touch the Japanese. They live and breath small. The only American company that comes to mind in the same space is Apple, with their luscious iPods and brushed-metal Macs. The balance between austere unblemished surfaces and clusters of electronic functionality is usually overlooked. The Kodak V570, by comparison, draws upon retro influences (I love the lens cluster) and bold rectilinear form. It's just so yummy...it's a brick of digital camera goodness bursting with visual candy. It manages to strike a balance between that austerity and excitement, a little reminiscent of the Sony PSP, but more fun. The flat front face almost looks like a cartoon diagram of a digital camera...awesome! And the lens closing mechanism makes the coolest "thunk" sound.
I have no idea if the camera shoots well...I'll have to check Digital Photo Review to see what they're saying about it. This camera, though, is at the top of my list for a new point-and-shoot, if it meets my technical criteria...and when I have some money to spare. In the meantime, the old G2 is shooting just fine.
Can I Pick 'Em or What?
I was curious if the V570 was designed in-house at Kodak, so I did a search on "industrial design V570 kodak"; I discovered that the camrea won an IDEA 2006 Award from IDSA, the Industrial Designers Society of America.
A little further digging uncovered the design house that worked with Kodak on both the V570 and, as it turns out, the other Kodak camera I liked: Blue Map Design in New York City. They have a great photo spread (see above) on the V570 camera. Sweet!
Be sure to check out the other IDEA 2006 award winners...great design deserves recognition! According to the Blue Map website, they also were a Red Dot Award Winner in 2006, a prize I am not familiar with. The Red Dot website, though, looks like it has a lot of interesting communications design resources. Bookmarked!
In case you missed it, the guys and gals at The Iconfactory have launched their brand-spankin' new website! For those of you unfamiliar with The Iconfactory, they're a design firm that produces some of the most beautiful, cleanly-rendered icon art you're likely to come across. Their work is just superbly executed; here's a small sampling:
The Iconfactory story is really cool...they started doing free icons for fun 10 years ago, eventually expanding into the commercial design studio they are today, producing not only excellent stock icons for GUI designers, but also custom design for some of the most recognizeable brands on the planet. That they did this by being themselves---passionate, talented, and incredibly down-to-earth---makes their success story even more inspiring. Ged and Talos taught me how to use Photoshop back in 1993 when we were all graduate students in Computer Graphic Design, so I am admittedly biased favorably toward them personally. But just look at the work...I think you will find that it speaks for itself, loudly and clearly. It kicks ass!
Congratulations on the new site, guys! It's great!
Today I have been thinking about magic as a profession. If you think about it, we're exposed to magic constantly, and often don't realize it.
Magic Pairings
I have been following the recent split between Amanda Congdon and Andrew Baron, the two most recognizable people from video blog Rocketboom. They've split due to creative differences, which I find interesting because the story is (1) unexpectedly melodramatic and (2) tales of business partnerships gone awry provide interesting insights into motivation. Nevertheless, the combination of Congdon and Baron created a successful video enterprise; Dave Winer commented that "they have a magic thing". It'll be interesting to see how they fare individually through their continued work on the Internet. It's not often that a creative team splits in a medium as immediate as video blogging. It's a bona fide soap opera, unfolding in something close to real-time across the Internet.
These kinds of magical pairings are all around us. Every piece of music we hear on the radio is a product of magical synergy between music producers with incredible ears, technicians who know how to wring the best signal out of any recording environment, and vocalists who somehow can resonate with our very souls...they've somehow all found each other, and together they can create 10x experiences. Individually, they are mortal like the rest of us.
Digital Magic
While browsing Congdon's website links, I came across this video post montage reel linked from Karmagrrrl. The reel, created by Manhattan digital production artist collective R!OT, shows before and after shots of various commercials they've worked on. It's magical...as a friend of mine said, "you'd be surprised how much out there is fake". Digital effects have come a long way, to the point that they are utterly invisible and convincing in our everyday media viewing.
At the same time, being exposed to all this fakery can lead to false expectations of ourselves. For example, there's a rather startling sequence of actress close-ups, with their less-than-perfect skin, baggy eyes, and too-wide noses...they are transformed before our eyes. As Karmagrrrl notes, To all the grrls outs there. The next time you see a makeup commercial, with perfectly beautiful models, remember this video!.
That aside, the editing rhythm of the montage itself is fun and snappy that initially seems to be just another commercial reel, but slowly starts to wow you with what they're showing you: the secret world behind the imagery. It's like watching a close-up magician at work; you only experience the magic even if you know how the trick is done. It's a joy to see a trick superbly executed by someone of great talent.
Being Comfortable with Magic
When I see work of this caliber, it makes me wonder how digital artists deal with impossible client requests. Because they're magicians, maybe they just wink and say, "That sounds impossible. Sure, we can do it." The normal reaction would be to start covering your ass and put conditions on everything, but that's an energy-sapping approach, and isn't fun for anyone. I've been guilty of it myself more than once for even minor projects, and now I'm feeling a little embarassed about it.
After seeing these two pieces, I'm thinking I should make an effort to be more of a magician in my day-to-day. Back when I was seriously pursuing video game development, I used to talk with my friends about showmanship and the impossibility factor as elements of creating a powerful impression. I seem to have forgotten that.
So this is yet another brick I'd like to add to my foundation: become a practical magician, with the confidence to create those moments of impossible synchronicity. One thing I've recognized that helps is that my "creative DNA" is firmly anchored in the visual design of data, not so much in "pure creative", and that raises a question: what does it mean to be a magician in the context of information graphics?
A friend of mine was recently on a quest to find a new fish screensaver. While I don't find screensavers particularly compelling, I suggested that she look for one of them new-fangled 3D fish ones. She uncovered a couple of mediocre screensavers before finding Marine Aquarium. Even I had to admit it was pretty cool.
It's one of the loveliest fish screen savers I've seen, with beautiful color and attention to detail. If I didn't mind loading down my machine with extraneous software, this would be the screensaver I'd buy.
A Closer Look
I was struck by the level of pixel art in the background graphics; it's rare to see that level of attention outside the professional video game industry. As I analyzed the graphics technique, I saw an artist's signature that seemed very familiar...
SACHS
I couldn't remember where I'd seen it, but a quick Google revealed that it was the mark of Jim Sachs, legendary pixel artist. Older gamers might remember games like Defender of the Crown from Cinemaware, which showcased the Commodore Amiga's animation and sound supremacy. There was no other computer at the time with the raw multimedia-handling hardware capability, and the color resolution was significantly better than just about anything on the market. When I was in college, visiting an Amiga geek's dorm room meant seeing the latest Cinemaware release and gaping at it. I was still using an Apple //e at the time: 8-bit processor running at 1MHz, the screen resolution of wet newspaper, and the simplest possible sound hardware: the click. The Amiga was, to my mind, the future of personal computing, handily spanking all comers with raw hardware capability; I still feel a tinge of lust when I look at these circa-1984 specs :-)
Pixel Artistry
In the good ole' days of the Amiga, Jim Sachs was one of the artists that defined pixel graphics perfection. Even now, looking at collected works online, I'm impressed by what he managed to convey in a mere 32 colors per scanline. The picture above is the one I remember seeing in college (or possibly the red or blue variation of it). If you click the image, you'll see the pixel-doubled version of it, so you can see the pixel work a little more cleanly.
If you're used to today's 16.7 million color displays you might wonder what all the fuss is about, but trust me: Sachs was one of our major inspirations, showing computer graphic artists everywhere what was possible, and giving us a taste of what the future might bring. While a 32 color palette might even seem like a LOT, keep in mind that every shade of color counts; to make a smooth shadow, you could easily blow half of your palette budget for not a lot of impact. It takes a real subtle touch to do it right. If you click the thumbnails below, you can get a sense of just how limited the color palette is; I doubled the size to be a bit more viewable on modern monitor resolution, and inset the actual color palette in the upper left corner):
Note: there are more-famous images have very subtle color work, but the images I found online appear to have been converted from special Amiga video modes (HAM, EHB) that don't illustrate my point.
I was very curious to find out what Jim Sachs had been up to; I didn't know that Jim Sachs is also a programmer. His coding experience, combined with his eye for animation and color, is the apparent force behind his very popular acquarium screen saver. I realized somewhat belatedly that this was the screensaver I'd seen everywhere, in computer stores, television---you name it! I have even admired it in passing. The screenshot does not do the animation justice; the motion work is really quite beautiful.
Anyway, I'm glad to see that Sachs still out there inspiring us, and presumably making a good living.
MAIN LINKS
» Jim D. Sachs Artwork
» Jim D. Sachs Bio
» Pixel Art entry on Wikipedia
I chortled with glee when I came upon Leslie Russell's "riff on the Printable CEO": When is a Cigar Worth Smoking?. This is a great example of a concrete goals tracker list. Each list item combines personal satisfaction with the recognition of the tangible "worth smoking" metrics:
10 It has a complex flavor! Unique notes!
10 It's highly recommended!
05 It's new from a famous label!
05 It's sharp visual design! Unique!
05 It's well constructed! Blemish and plug free!
02 It matches well with a favorite drink!
02 It's a gift from a friend!
02 It's a social or business event!
01 It's one you've never tried before!
01 It's an old favorite!
I like to indulge in the cigar ritual once couples years or so, because they're one of those luxuries that are surprisingly complex. Every good cigar is a handmade work of art that is consumed in a single sitting. Every cigar is susceptable to the history of its storage. Cigar smokers are sometimes ostracized because people think the smoke is especially disgusting (and it is, if you're not the one making the smoke). But within every good cigar is a whole world of contemplative pleasure and solitude. Cigars are best smoked with a good friend, with a nice drink, somewhere away from the bustle of life.
» Check out Leslie's Printable Cigar Tasting Guide on Flickr.
