practice temporary

Dirt Art

2011-06-05T13:23:00.000-07:00

Scott Wade has turned dirty car windows into beautiful, artistic and novel creations.

The future of gaming?

2011-06-05T13:17:00.000-07:00

Forget PS3 or xbox 1080, this will be the next big thing in gaming.

Virtusphere, Inc. develops and markets a locomotion platform that allows
users to be completely immersed into their interactive virtual experience.

However I can see the gaming market latching onto technology similar to this.

The only negative is it probably won't fit in your living room.

Gobarbra.com

2011-06-05T12:58:00.000-07:00

Customize your own Barbra Streisand Song!

Unless you’ve been living under a rock for most of last year, you’ll have undoubtedly heard of the dance track called ‘Barbra Streisand’. Insanely catchy beats mixed with a male vocal simply saying ‘Barbra Streisand’ every 32 bars.

Now you can be part of the song, with this nifty little webtool that allows you to put your own name (or any other words) directly in to the song and replace the standard ‘Barbra Streisand’ line.

The web app is so simple and fun, yet it’s already garnered over 129,000 ‘likes’ on Facebook alone… A fantastic tool to prolong the longevity (and sales) of a song using social media?

Go to gobarbra.com to make your own!

How to screen-print T-shirts at home

2011-06-05T12:28:00.000-07:00

Screen printing is an easy way to make a unique T-shirt. Grab your squeegee and follow Spinning Hat's simple instructions...

For this tutorial, I wanted to show how screen-printing short runs of a simple design on T-shirts can be done very easily at home with just a screen, a squeegee, some ink, a piece of paper and a craft knife. It's how I started, and if you like it you have the basics to start experimenting with more technical ways of making screen stencils.

What you need

Screen printing fabric ink. Try a ready-mixed ink to begin with, such as the Speedball range. Follow the instructions on the ink to make sure your design is washable.

A screen. You can buy these ready-made (which can be a little pricey), or buy the mesh and a cheap canvas stretcher frame and make your own by stretching the mesh over the frame and stapling evenly at the edges so it is taut, like a drum. 43T mesh is best for general printing.

A squeegee. This can be bought from most craft supply stores that sell screen print supplies. For printing on fabric I have always used a D-Cut blade, but a square-edged one is also good. (If you just want to have bash at printing, a hard piece of plastic or very stiff, thick card will do to, so long as the edge is very straight and firm.)

Plain paper

Craft knife

Roll of masking tape

Basic cotton jersey T-shirt or fabric

How much will it cost?

An A4 screen made from scratch (mesh, staples, frame) plus ink and a squeegee will set you back around £25. It sounds a lot, but if you decide to do more printing, a well looked-after screen and squeegee will last a long time.

What to do

A basic design for screen printing novices. Photograph: Lee May Foster
1. Come up with a design that you can easily cut out of the paper with a craft knife. A simple design of shapes such as triangles or diamonds in a circle or scattered randomly can be very effective. Cut your design out.

2. Take your screen and mask off around the edges of the underside (the side that will be in contact with the fabric), so that when you lay your stencil paper on top there is no mesh showing around the edges - you don't want paint creeping over the edges of your stencil. Don't tape your stencil to the mesh though!

3. Lay your T-shirt or fabric flat and lay the paper stencil on it where you want your design to be. Place the screen on top, taking care not to move the paper and making sure the screen is centred over it.

4. Blob a tablespoon of ink in a line at the top edge of your screen.

5. Holding the screen firmly down with one hand, place the squeegee above the ink and, applying some pressure, pull it down the screen, taking the ink with it (pull at a 45º angle for a square blade and upright for D-Cut). Repeat, and then put the squeegee to one side, being careful not to drip excess ink.

Build up to more ambitious designs, like this one from Bonbi Forest.

6. Holding the fabric down with one hand, lift the screen up from the bottom edge and then away. Voila! Admire your design.

7. You will notice that the paper stencil sticks to the screen with the ink. It is important at this stage that you make your next prints quickly and if you notice the ink starting to seem drier you must wash the screen immediately - once water-based ink is dry in the screen it is impossible to get out.

8. When you have finished your print run, discard the paper stencil and wash the screen with cold water. Scrub it lightly with a sponge or nylon washing-up brush to make sure you get all the ink out. Leave the screen to air-dry before printing again.

Tips

Always do a test print before printing on your 'finished' surface.

Paper stencils will have to be discarded when the screen is washed, so if you want to do lots of the same print, make several stencils at once for further printing sessions.

June's Top Videos!

2011-06-05T12:15:00.000-07:00

This month we showcase the world's first ever bmx triple backflip, a hilarious cat compilation and Insanely creative Beyonce performance!

World First BMX Triple Backflip - Jed Mildon May 28, 2011

Funny Cats Compilation!

Beyonce performs Run The World

Only Have Eyes For Disney

2011-05-29T07:33:00.000-07:00

Disney, art and make-up? Yes please. Artist Katie Alves takes famous Disney scenes and recreates them as eye shadow panoramas.

1. Tangled

2. The Lion King

3. Aladdin

4. The Nightmare Before Christmas

5. Alice In Wonderland

6. Snow White

The best Cupcake Recipes!

2011-05-29T07:16:00.000-07:00

Butter icing lovers, open your eyes to the new world of cupcake!

CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE

Amazingly Creative Drawing Vs Photography

2011-05-29T07:03:00.000-07:00

This wonderful work has done by a very talented Belgian painter, illustrator, portraitist, caricaturist and photographer Ben Heine. This creative artist was born in Abidjan, Ivory Coast. He Studied graphic arts and sculpture and I also have a degree in journalism. Lets take a look at some of his awesome works that he calls “Drawing Vs Photography” or “Imagination Vs Reality”.

PEOPLE ARE AWESOME!!!.

2011-05-29T06:55:00.000-07:00

I did first see this a long time ago but just stumbled upon it and reminded me just how awesome people are!

10 Best Album Covers

2011-05-29T06:17:00.000-07:00

MUSIC….. The #1 inspirational device in life. Music is everywhere and there aren’t many people out there that can disagree with me. So what I have for you is 10 of the Best Designed Album Covers. I have searched high and low for many different types of covers. There are many that are drawn out, close up photos, grungy, simple and clean or just iconic. Please feel free to posts any album covers that you think should be on the list.

Nirvana, Nevermind

Blind Faith, Blind Faith

Pink Floyd, Dark Side of the Moon

1977 Sex Pistols, Never Mind the Bollocks Here’s the Sex Pistols

1988 Jane’s Addiction, Nothing’s Shocking

Prodigy, Fat of the Land

Zinkplaat did a scratch-off record cover.

The Jimmy Hendrix experience Axis: Bold as Love 1968

The Beatles Abbey road 1960

Iron Maiden, The number of the Beast 1982

Inspirational 3D looking tattoos!

2011-05-22T11:05:00.000-07:00

You can find thousands of tattoo designs over internet but there are some tattoo designs which stands out the crowd. And 3D tattoo designs are good examples for this.
This post showcases a collection of 3D tattoo designs which are all really creative.

Napoleon Dynamite is back!

2011-05-22T10:46:00.000-07:00

The original Napoleon Dynamite cast has returned to voice the characters in the new Fox cartoon.

The Fox network in the US, home of popular animated shows Family Guy and The Simpsons has unveiled two new cartoons that will be joining their stables this year.

Today they shared a sneak peek at the new animated version of the hit 2004 film Napoleon Dynamite.

Most of the cast from the original film have returned to voice their characters, including Jon Heder as the title character, Efran Ramirez as Pedro, Aaron Ruell as Kip Dynamite and Jon Gries as Uncle Rico.

The cartoon is due to hit US screens mid this year.

According to MTV, season one guest-stars include Sam Rockwell, Jennifer Coolidge, and Jemaine Clement (Flight of the Conchords).

Here's a sneak peek.

Tom Kelly-Lord
Spinning Hat

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Creative and funny wedding cakes!

2011-05-22T02:53:00.000-07:00

Looking for some wedding cake inspiration? Then look no further. Spinning Hat have put together a collection of some fantastic and original wedding cakes.

Amazing modern pop art

2011-05-22T02:40:00.000-07:00

If you are searching for some great pop examples then look no further! Here is a fantastic collection by Andy awesome (7 sets).

Super Mario Bros

Charlie Brown

Star Wars

He-Man

Batman

Smurfs

Heroes

Tom Kelly-Lord
Spinning Hat

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Apache - Danger Beach

2011-05-22T02:24:00.000-07:00

Apache

Great animated music video for the band Danger Beach. Their album Milky Way can be downloaded here:
dreamdamage.com/2010/07/danger-beach/

Funny and Creative Wall Stickers

2011-05-15T13:45:00.000-07:00

There is nothing more pleasant than a comfortable home and a favorite room (except a nice new pair of socks), where you can just rest and forget about everything; a room where you can meditate and be creative. The way a person decorates the house says a lot about them.

Creative room decorations trigger creative ideas. Just some special colors that you see in your room can make feel comfortable or get your imagination go wild. Another thing to consider are wall stickers. These are also pretty fun and can really change the aspect of a room. Whether it’s an abstract design, typography, cartoons or images inspired by nature – all of them are pretty cool.

Tom Kelly-Lord
Spinning Hat

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Inspiring examples of single letter logo design

2011-05-15T13:39:00.000-07:00

What makes a company or a website distinct from others, and stand out from the crowd is – its logo of course. This is one of the most important things to be considered when starting a business.

One thing that should be considered when designing a single-letter logo is simplicity. Don’t overdo the design of your logo but make it simple and neat – something that would represent your business or your name. Follow the example of the world’s most known brands. Anyone could easily say it’s McDonalds when spotting that big yellow “M”.

Tom Kelly-Lord
Spinning Hat

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Ashton to replace Charlie Sheen

2011-05-15T13:21:00.000-07:00

ASHTON KUTCHER has filled the most talked about vacancy on US TV.

The "Punk'd" and "that 70's show" star is reportedly putting final touches on a deal to replace troubled CHARLIE SHEEN on hit comedy Two And A Half Men.

Shortly after the news broke on The Hollywood Reporter yesterday, Ashton appeared to confirm the news on his Twitter account.

He tweeted: "What's the square root of 6.25?" leaving his followers to believe the answer 2.5 is a confirmation that he is taking on the role.

Writer CHUCK LORRE has reportedly created a hilarious storyline to introduce the 33-year-old actor to viewers, with sources revealing he will receive a "huge payday" to join the long-running series.

A number of high profile stars - including ROB LOWE, WOODY HARRELSON, JEREMY PIVEN and JOHN STAMOS - had all been tipped to take over from Charlie on the sitcom with British star HUGH GRANT recently turning down the job due to "creative differences".

New Lucozade Lite Advert

2011-05-15T13:04:00.000-07:00

During the Chelsea vs. Manchester United match on Sunday the new Lucozade Lite advert debuted. As with a number of other adverts that have caught my attention lately, in my opinion this advert is great! Plus it features the (not even released yet) DJ Fresh song 'Louder'. Although not so easy to recognise the brand at first (which incidentally I quite like) I eventually realised that it was for Lucozade Lite, the diet version of the sports energy drink. Check it out for yourselves and let me know what you think…

In with the other marketing going on at the moment as part of Lucozade’s ‘Yes’ campaign, they have another advert featuring Travis Barker and Tinie Tempah (see below). This campaign features so many things I find aspirational, it’s fitting for the audience, a fresh approach to advertising sports drinks and simply put, is inspired…

Free stencils for everyone!

2011-05-15T12:47:00.000-07:00

Use these printer friendly stencils to make your own prints, decorate your house or tag your mate whilst he's asleep!

Below are a range of different stencils you can print, cut out and spray away! Here is a list of possible applications; decorate your walls, spray cushion covers, make your canvas or art print or graffiti.

I should probably say something about graffiti being an act of vandalism but as long as you have permission from the owner of the property then go right ahead!

Batman Joker stencil

Obey stencil

Banksy - toxic rat stencil

Reaper - Skull stencil

Frankenstein stencil

Che Guevara stencil

Transformer stencil

Tom Kelly-Lord
Spinning Hat

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2011 Summer sunglasses

2011-05-08T16:29:00.000-07:00

Summer is upon us so if you haven't got a pair of shades yet, look no further!

Black Havana

The Black Havana colorway can easily be defined as “the new black” this season. Its a double laminate acetate which features shiny black on the front, with a dark havana lining around the frame. For those that want to keep things classic but just want that small unique touch, the Black Havana’s are definitely the way to go. Available in several frame styles: Basic Shape, Flat Top, People, and W, pictured below.

Obey sunglasses

Shepard Fairey is branching out into eye wear this year. Check out the obey store

Oakley sunglasses

OAKLEY FROGSKIN glasses? Im not sure about these but I’ve seen a few people sporting them. FLY OR DIE?

Von Zipper

Wanna make a splash at the bash or hand out a hot flash? Wait! Grab the Stache and make a dash for the petty cash. Unless of course your memory cache has whiplash. 100% UV protection. Base 6 spherical lens. Handtooled acetate lenses. Impact resistant CR – 39 frames. Stainless steel optical hinges. Wire injected temple core.

Controversial Osama Bin Laden game

2011-05-08T15:58:00.000-07:00

GAMERS have been given the chance to take part in the daring special forces raid on Osama Bin Laden's secret hideout just ONE WEEK after he was shot dead.

In a quickly drawn up replica of the al-Qaeda monster's compound, players arrive by Black Hawk just like the Navy Seals did only seven days ago to finally avenge the deaths of the terror chief's victims.

Episode 107 of the game known as KumaWar was quickly generated to reflect the latest development in the war on terror.

In it a grey-haired Osama is hunted by the elite special forces squad which pumped two bullets into his head and chest last Sunday.

Gamers can lead the elite unit into a virtual version of his guarded hideaway in Abbottabad, Pakistan, and claim the kill for themselves.

The free online game based on the war on terror has been running for seven years.
In that time 20million people have signed up for battles which are introduced to reflect the real-life developments of the war.

Other episodes have featured the invasion of Afghanistan, the hunt for hanged Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein and the search for weapons of mass destruction.

Kuma's CEO Keith Halper told the Hollywood Reporter: "We read the same published reports as everyone else, though I suspect with a different eye.

"Since we have to reproduce events in 3D we care deeply about esoteric details like distances, heights, vegetation, furniture and the like that have to be re-created in the game.

"Sounds — dogs barking, helicopters' orbits, pyrotechnics — those are important too. It's all available in the public sources, and there was a tremendous amount of data released.

"But the magic is in piecing together the details from the million little clues in order to create a convincing 3D environment."

He said it was the perfect way to offer people closure on one of the most drawn-out manhunts in history.

"Bin Laden was a bad man, and people feel relieved that he is gone. To be able to recreate his death is just an added bonus."

What do you think about this game?

Incredible Macro Photographs

2011-05-08T15:28:00.000-07:00

Many times it takes a unique perspective to find beauty in a place that you may not otherwise have looked. Macro photography shows objects in nature and other aspects of life in a way that brings out a new kind of beauty.

The following macro photographs are sure to inspire beautiful work for any designer. Whether you are looking for inspiration for backgrounds of business cards or artwork for web design, enjoy the brilliant macro photographs below.

The water is the real focus, but the shape and color of these petals are not to be overlooked. The color combination in this photograph could be brilliant on business cards.

At first glance, this photograph may startle you. The more you look at it, though, the richer the colors and the more intense the eye becomes. It almost appears to move.

With crisp clarity, this caterpillar shows character that you may never have imagined without the up close introduction. The color scheme that nature has provided would be great for a high energy design.

In this photograph the water droplets magnify the tiny nuances of this vibrant leaf. Once again, the color combination is amazing.

If an ant can carry 50 times their weight and team work is still necessary then I think that ants are a great example for us. This image can be used to inspire great attitudes as well as design.

The shimmering eyes of this terrifying spider have a very space like quality, especially with the spider crawling across a CD.

Once again, detail in the tiniest parts of nature can be scary and stunning at the same time.

Inspiring Examples of Green Business Cards

2011-05-08T15:04:00.000-07:00

Printing business cards nowadays is cheap with the availability of online printing companies. All you need is an internet connection, a desktop publishing program, and a trusted printing company on the web. In a matter of a couple of days, you can have quality business cards in your hand.

You can go the traditional route with your business cards, but have you ever thought of green business cards? With a lot of individuals and companies joining the green campaign, it is becoming almost a fad to hand out your information in “green cards” of nearly any form.

Naturally, a great way to find inspiration for green business card options is by searching the web. In my own search for ideas, I succeeded in finding a few amazing examples of business cards that really took green business card design seriously.

Another Bloomin’ Designer

Now this is one design that really stands out, so I think it’s just right that it goes on top of my list. The concept was very simple. The designer needed to create business cards that people would want to “keep on their table and not on their pockets.” True enough, nearly anyone who receives this business card cannot resist keeping the card on the table, window sill, or desk to can watch the greens grow, straight out of the card!

Moo Eco Friendly Business Cards

These business cards are printed on 100% recycled paper and the card box (where you store your card and others too!) is also made from 100% recyclable pulp. Now you don’t have to worry about your cards getting creases and wrinkled when you put them in your bag and all the while you are doing our planet a favor.

Green Cards for Second-Hand Shops

This is a good suggestion for consignment shops. If you’re selling second-hand items, why not hand out second-hand cards as well? Blacken the name in front of other people’s cards and scribble your own at the back.

Landscape Business Card

The concept for this particular card is brilliant! It features a landscape plan, which in a week’s time will sprout green in the exact location the plants should be in the plan.

Leaf Business Cards: Tatil Design

Go green all the way with these real leaf business cards. Your logo and information are laser etched into the leaf with no ink required. Throw them out and you don’t have to worry about harming the environment—they’re leaves!

DIY Cereal Business Cards

This one project is exceedingly unique because these business cards are made the DIY way. The entire process is simple: just cut out your cereal boxes, lay out your business card design in your design program, pop the cut cereal boxes into your printer, and voila! You now have business cards made from your own cereal boxes. A business card like this could really turn heads; however, because of the time-consuming process you would only want to do this if you only need a handful of cards.

Cardboard Business Card

Reuse old packaging boxes to create your own one-of-a-kind business card. Although you would not want to do this for more than just a few cards at a time, it is a great way to create special business cards for your important prospects, and it is eco-friendly! This business card for Fiverr came from a MacBook Pro box. Rather than printing the text on such bulky material, Kaufman stamped them on, which really fit into the packaged look well.

Sustainable Cards for a Sustainable Company

Sometimes the most economical business card is one that uses sustainable materials, such as this one designed for a sustainable furniture business. Notice that the design uses only one color of ink: black. Beside the large logo, there are no big graphics. The text is also short and sweet to limit the amount of ink used.

Do you deserve a Calrsberg?

2011-05-08T14:35:00.000-07:00

Well many of you know that the Spinning Hat team are big fans of all things design and development, but we’re also big fans of beer! So we were obviously intrigued when we saw the new Facebook promotion that Carlsberg Canada was working on!

Go win some prizes!
Who doesn’t like free stuff? Head over to the new Carlsberg Facebook page, http://www.ideserveone.ca and enter why YOU think you deserve a Carlsberg! Each entry enters you into winning some sweet Carlsberg prizes!

From a technology and design perspective I do have to applaud the company that setup this campaign for Carlsberg. The integration within Facebook was fantastic and the design was great. From a marketing/promotional aspect the campaign was also very easy to take part in, and did have a fun final result that was easy to share on your Facebook profile. Certainly impressive considering that a campaign like this couldn’t even have existed about 7 years ago, really speaks volumes to the progressive nature that advertising and marketing needs to have to stay current and connect with the audience. Looking forward to seeing what’s next!