John Rainsford.com

Rainsford Creative Collective

Thu, 02 May 2013 17:07:00

I have updated my design portfolio with a few recent pieces of work. Two of them relate to a little collective that my brother and I have set up, the Rainsford Creative Collective (it was a difficult naming process.)

The RCC is one of two separate ventures we are working on, but the RCC is the place where we will be able to work on projects that are at the point where the line between art and design starts to blur. We hope to create and work on projects that combine aspects of design, illustration, video, audio and photography.

I had already redrawn our the Rainsford family crest, so I plucked aspects of the crest out, namely the shield, helmet and deer head, simplified them and have incorporated them into a simple branding scheme to use while we get set up.

Also, I was able to register rainsford.ie which I had been meaning to do for a long time. I won't be squatting on it though, I'll be using it thoroughly.

Embracing Facebook

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 17:03:00

For too long, I have been avoiding Facebook for anything other than informal messages with close friends and family. I find a lot of Facebook... unpleasant. I think Facebook has been trying to become the one and only web destination for the general public, and the thought of that is horrible. If the only site you visit is Facebook and the only online interaction you have is on Facebook, then you miss out on all the weird and wonderful stuff across the web.

While I always knew Facebook was a good communication tool, it's taken me a while to come round to using it. This started with the local youth group I work with, Aontas Ogra. In the past, I have set up guestbooks and message boards to try create a method of communicating with members and parents of members but with Facebook, we now have an incredibly successful medium to interact with members and parents. The obvious secret to the success is being able to post messages to where they are going to regularly visit.

Seeing how useful this has been and how other businesses and individuals have used Facebook for getting their message out there, I decided to create a Facebook page for my links, so if you don't have a Twitter account or subscribe to RSS feeds, you can now 'Like' this page and get all the links in your Facebook feed.

This is also the reason why I stopped Five Links for Friday, I was relinking too soon, before people had a chance to see the original. I am going to add tags to my links though, for better perusal down the line.

Five Links

Fri, 12 Apr 2013 16:33:00

Vintage Penguin-style covers for Tarantino movies

I like projects like these, reimaging Tarantino movies as Penguin paperbacks. The only thing I'd change wold to keep all the covers simpler (Kill Bill in particular) and the colour scheme reduced, like the Penguin paperbacks of old. My favourite is Death Proof (I quite like the film too...)

LEGO paper airplane folding machine

Any video where Lego gets used to mechanically do something, not only gets linked to, but also gets relinked.

Period modern

This home got relinked because of the fantastic conservatory attached to it. So envious.

Pretending it’s Summer: Glen Lake Tower by Balance Associates Architects

I love everything about this tower Summer home- it's cladding, shape, space, interiors. Fantastic.

Lode Architecture: G House, Normandy, France

I love this simple home, which is deceptively large. I wouldn't mind this as my summer home in France.

Moving Images: Tron Legacy

Tue, 09 Apr 2013 14:14:00

I put a call out on Twitter, looking for recommendations for good movie soundtracks. The soundtrack for Tron Legacy, by Daft Punk, came up several times, so I made it my mission to find out more.

I got hold of the movie, and not only was I suitably enamoured by the soundtrack, I also loved the look of the movie throughout. Not just the CGI imagery within 'The Grid' but also the production design in the real world.

The production designer was Darren Gilford and his work is beautiful. He has also done the production design on Oblivion, with Tom Cruise, which also looks really beautiful too. I can't wait to see it.

I've posted some screenshots below of the first part of the movie, to avoid spoilers. There is also a home made of shipping containers, and everyone knows that I love reused shipping containers...

Gone Fishing

Sat, 06 Apr 2013 17:51:00

Apologies for the lack of links and posts this week- I was on Inis Oirr with spotty internet access. Normal service will return on Monday. Photos here.

Five Good Links

Fri, 29 Mar 2013 15:59:00

The BEST(A) LEGO shelves

I love Lego, so I had to relink to this cabinet. As I said in the original link post, a lot of these Ikea Hackers posts are woeful, but this almost looks like an official Lego product.

L-Shaped Countryside Home With Both Rustic And Contemporary Nuances

I don't think I could make up my mind between a contemporary and a traditional home. I'd probably juxtapose the two together, like this home in the UK.

Kazuhiko Kishimoto: Skyward House, Japan

I relinked this home simply because I love the wooden pathway up to it. So nice.

Modern Meets Rustic Revealing a Special Eclectic Décor

I called this one of my favourite home exteriors in a while, so I had to relink to it. I love all the different cladding materials and the different directions the material lines take. The interiors are really nice too, especially the dining table 'chandelier'.

Castillo-Miras Arquitectos: Nazari Tower restoration in Huercal-Overa

This is a striking defensive tower, renovated in Spain. On a barren landscape, in, what looks like, blistering heat, this stands, monolith-like. I love the cape around the staircase.

Five Links

Fri, 22 Mar 2013 11:33:00

White House Wednesdays

I love these photos on Flickr, especially the fact that the US National Archives are on Twitter. THis particular photo set is of the interior of the White House when it was completely gutted: “The decision was made to move the Trumans across the street into the Blair House for three years while the White House underwent a complete reconstruction within its original exterior walls.”

Equator Beer

You don't often see a blind-printed label on food or drink, but this is special beer. It was brewed by the design company Equator Design, in their Sydney offices (!) for their clients. The wooden cases that house them, also built by members of the company, are a beautiful complement to them.

BGP Arquitectura: MTY House, Mexico

A gigantic monolith of a home, that sits amongst the trees on the side of a Mexican mountain. I'd say the masses of concrete keep it cool in summer and warm in winter.

Minnesota United FC on Brand New

I really like this rebrand of a football crest. It keeps the 'feel' of a crest, but is contemporary and so much slicker than the previous crest.

The Eco Fan requires no power

This fan that sits on top of a wood-burning stove, uses the heat generated from the stove to create an electrical circuit and spin the fan, distributing the rising heat from the stove throughout the room. I really love this idea, but shudder at the thought of a child putting their hands near it when in full flight...

The Athy Directory

Thu, 21 Mar 2013 14:53:00

Whilst I have some free time between jobs (yes I am looking for interesting opportunities- let me know!) I decided to redesign the local business/organisation directory I made about four years, the Athy Directory.

I had built it to scratch my own itch- a lot of small local businesses had no web presence, which makes it very difficult to Google them. Things have changed now and there are many more of them online, but I think my directory still stands up.

There are plenty of little bits and pieces that I still need to do, which I will get 'round to doing soon, but at the moment, these are the elements I've been working on.

Design

As with any project that is your own, I spent too much time going back and forward with different designs. Mobile devices are important but I didn't really want to end up creating a heap of media queries (I wanted to Keep It Simple, See?) In the end I decided to take the Zeldman route and design a site that essentially looks the same regardless of device (although I still used a few media queries but not many.) The Athy colours are red and white, so I wanted to use them (previously blue and orange for some reason.)

Autocomplete

I really wanted an autocomplete function, it's almost ubiquitous with search, so I set about it. I thought I could do it easily enough, but in the end I used an Autocomplete JQuery plugin, which worked great. As I developed the backend system, it was easy for me to output a JSON file with all businesses, organisation and categories that people may be searching for. This feature ended up being much easier than I expected.

Homepage furniture

With the previous version, I had pulled the Yahoo weather feed in, via RSS, for Athy. I wanted to continue this providing useful information, so I linked to the Wikipedia page and location on Google Maps.

I had worked on an analog clock mechanism (because I'm a wannabe horologist) in a previous project, and as it wasn't being used anymore, I decided to put one on this homepage. It's an adapted version of this clock code. It's pretty simple, my contribution to it, was having it independent of the clock on the visitor's computer.
I think I'll have to explain this in a separate blog post.

Necessary Evil

Initially I tried a sponsorship program with local businesses to cover hosting costs etcetera, but more time was spent chasing payment. Google Adsense allows me to cover costs with no work. Pity the ads are always so bloody ugly.

I have both a Facebook account and page for the Directory, so I felt I needed to put a Like button on the page. Yes, that's it, the goofy element that always looks out of place. I'm beginning to accept the role FB has to play online. I accept it but I don't 'like' it.

Miscellaneous

I built the backend using PHP, which has held up fine. I used the Sphider indexing system to create a fast search. It's ok and does the job. Athy is a small town so there's never a heavy load on traffic or visitors, and as I manually put in new businesses, it's secure from bad people.

Please visit the site and let me know what you think.

Beware the Ides of March

Fri, 15 Mar 2013 17:47:00

I studied Shakespeare's Julius Caeser in school and, to this day, I still enjoy it. I think this mostly has to do with how a large number of quotes and references from it, have made their way into popular culture.

Case in point, you may see references to the Ides of March online today, March 15th. This was the day (according to Julius Caeser) that Caeser was assassinated. He was warned by a soothsayer to “Beware the Ides of March”.

I've listed some more memorable quotations below, I'm sure you've come across them at some point.

“Et tu, Brute?”

“It is the bright day that brings forth the adder
And that craves wary walking.”

“Of all the wonders that I have heard,
It seems to me most strange that men should fear;
Seeing death, a necessary end,
Will come when it will come.”

“Cry havoc and let slip the dogs of war!”

“Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears;
I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him;
The evil that men do lives after them,
The good is oft interred with their bones,
So let it be with Caesar”

“Cowards die many times before their deaths; the valiant never taste of death but once.”

“As he was valiant, I honor him. But as he was ambitious, I slew him.”

Shakespeare references are always fun, especially when used in a modern context. I particularly like the Macbeth reference in Collateral.

Five Links

Fri, 15 Mar 2013 14:18:00

DKNG Fun’s Seattle Ice Cream Truck

I love the work of DKNG, I could watch their process videos over and over. This behind-the-scenes blog post details their recent Ice Cream Truck poster. Really great, love those display Ice Cream signs.

Minimalism And Playfulness Defining Residence Made of Shipping Containers

Everybody loves the reuse of shipping containers, it's fun to see what people do with the constraint of the shipping container shape. This house doesn't look like it, but it's made of shipping containers.

Rich Kelly Django Unchained

I linked to the one example of this guy's work, but you should check out his whole portfolio. Stellar work.

Solid Concrete House With a Staggering Zen Lounge Area

This is one behemoth of a concrete home, but the interiors are really nice. I especially like the open lounge area that almost is part of the garden. Too much concrete for my tastes, but I'd live in it regardless (a lick of paint would be need though...)

Le Chat

This beer label is more like a car 'wrap'. Really nice colour palette, nice textures, very interesting design overall.

Five Links

Fri, 08 Mar 2013 15:12:00

The Making of John Mayer's 'Born & Raised' Artwork

I've watched this video a couple of times- the skill and talent of this traditional signwriter is amazing. He draws the album artwork by hand and then vectorises, and then as a present to Mayer, creates two framed glass signs for Mayer, using a wide range of techniques.

Do yourself a favour, put twenty minutes aside and watch this.

Ghostbusters HQ in Lego

How could I not relink this piece? I like these Lego models based on well known buildings and places from movies and tv shows. The Ghostbusters HQ seems to work really well in this case and this is not the first model of this particular building I've seen. However I think this is the best I've seen.

ade architecture

I live in the end house of a four house terrace and I dream of adding a huge extension to the back of our house. I think if I could afford to do it, I'd be stealing ideas from this home. It's an amazing extension, really beautiful.

Michael Bierut at Creative Mornings

This was a really good talk, given by Michael Bierut of Pentagram fame. He shows a real acute understanding of the business side to design, as well as the design side of design. Worth a watch.

Moving Brands: Augusta Ventures

I relinked to this because I just really like this branding. Simple and smart, represents the business really well. Also, nice write-up by Moving Brands.

Redrawing a Crest

Tue, 05 Mar 2013 16:23:00

I started a little project with my brothers that I hope will be home to projects that we will work on together. Between the four of us, we manage to encompass elements of design, illustration/art, photography, video and audio.

With this in mind, I registered a business name and we're calling ourselves the Rainsford Creative Collective. Coincidentally, this meant I could registed rainsford.ie, which is something I've wanted to do for a while.

As the person taking care of the design aspect, I have been thinking long and hard about a logo and by extension, a brand. I came up with some ideas, but they seemed disconnected from who and what we were. This is not a faceless organisation, this is us.

I am a big fan of heraldry and knew we had a pretty great family crest. The main elements were an Argent (silver) shield with a Sable (black) cross, a helment (crusaders) and a deer. I made the decision that our family crest would become the core of our branding.

After the decision was made, the only thing I needed to do was redraw the crest, so that the elements were clean vectors and are able to be separated. This may seem like a simple task, but it's not. Six-odd hours of Illustrator work, screencasting and a lot of editing later, I present the process of redrawing a crest, in two crazy minutes. If you are prone to epileptic seizures, watch with caution.

Of course, an old-school heraldic crest isn't going to scale down to form a neat Favicon or Twitter avatar, but my goal is to create a branding system, rather than a brand consisting of a logo. The brand will consist of the elements of the crest separately, used when appropriate. For the most part, it'll probably be the shield, but maybe at some point, a deer head or a crusaders helmet might be more appropriate (I can't wait for those projects).

I'll post again when I have the brand further along, which will better illustrate my ideas above.

Five Links

Fri, 01 Mar 2013 13:14:00

Spirit Guide reinventing a great distillery

I saw this link on Daring Fireball and I had to repost it, simply because it describes a Scottish Whiskey that tastes like TCP disinfectant. What a sensation. I am not a fan of Scotch Whiskey.

Studija Archispektras: house in Kaunas - an autograph among the pine trees

A fantastic home in Lithuania. It's huge and clad with vibrant orange "vertical oxygenated steel plates".

Ashford and Ashford Stationery and Branding

This gets a relink because it's stationery and branding for lawyers (I assume) yet it's modern and slick and really represents them well.

From Shipping to Seating: Balzer + Kuwertz's Upcycled Pallet Chairs

Pallets usually end up as firewood or in a landfill, when their usefulness ends, so it's nice to see them being reused in a clever way.

Bang by Min: H house, Seoul

I've relinked this as it's an incredible building. Like a series of stacked boxes, it's makes for a huge space with a very small footprint. Also, the grassy garden is on the roof so that's really nice too. Vertigo is the way to go.

Five Links

Fri, 22 Feb 2013 12:14:00

As a poor substitute for actual blog posts, I present this weeks five links.

I decided to put in descriptions as to why I highlight the links, rather than images, as they might be more useful.

The Clink Room

I linked to a particular blog post, but visit the site and go back through the most recent posts of them critiquing work submitted by readers. When it comes to American sports team logos, Brandiose (who are behind the Clink Room) seem to be the experts in that area.

Concept: The Big Brand Theory

Interesting post on how effective major branding is, even when cropped down to it's barest elements.

eWorld: Apple’s Dream of the 90′s

A nice article about eWorld, Apple's online community of the 1990s. Interesting concept but so incredibly limited, even for that time (AOL was so much bigger).

Desks with a Gutter

Saw two of these desks this week, both very similar. Here's the other one.

Gummie Industries Branding

My favourite of the branding I saw in the last week. Hits all the right spots.

Five Links

Fri, 22 Feb 2013 12:13:00

The Art of the Japanese Manhole Cover

I love Japanese art, and I love art that is on unusual surfaces, so these decorated manhole covers are right up my street...

British Athletics Identity Designed

After watching his talk from the Brand New conference (blogged about here), I have become a big fan of Simon Manchipp of SomeOne and his their philosophy that a brand shouldn't hinge on a logo, but rather a branding system. This crest for the British Athletics, created by SomeOne, is a great example of achieving both. This piece is contributed by Mr. Manchipp and is definitely worth a read.