Richworks

You know you are a Designer when…….

Richie — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 17:49:29 +0000

Being a designer totally kicks butt! You become so engrossed in this profession that you fail to notice the awesomeness in it; which (other) people think is totally insignificant. Well, it is time to educate them and let them know why we are the real deal.

To be honest, I think I’ve learned a lot in the process of living the life of a designer. I’m sure you understand when I say this. So, I decided to gather a few peculiar behaviors of today’s designer. This may sound funny to many, but i guarantee this is true to the last nerve :)

Before I became a designer (or so I think), i used to find these behaviors hysterical but now I realize the more time I spent being a designer, the clearer it became. Anyway, I just thought I’d share a few of my thoughts on this. It is a weekend post, so have a good laugh :)

You know you are a Designer when…..

You (kinda)worship Paul Rand, Dieter Rams or Milton Glaser.
You can give a big lecture on the differences between ART and DESIGN.
You see Apple products and you are like “OMG… IT’S SHINY!!!”
Your desk is (mostly) clean and you like to keep it as simple as possible.
Your blood pressure increases drastically when you see someone using the Comic Sans font.
You HATE Comic Sans (just to be really sure!)
You like Helvetica but you think it is absolutely unnecessary to use it everywhere.
Just by the mere sight of Drop Shadow, Lens Flare and Bevel effect, you get a nervous breakdown.
You take nearly 15 minutes to experiment and decide on the perfect color palette.
GIF Images and scrolling texts make you go absolutely mad.
You pay (very)close attention to the tiniest of details and don’t want to make even the simplest of mistakes.
You see a typeface in a Logo and you go, “What if…..”
You (at least)know what HTML/CSS stands for.
If you lay your eyes on a board sign, you immediately start to wonder, “Is that Helvetica or Arial?”
You get excited when a non-designer asks you to explain your works and eventually get bugged trying to make him understand.
You have subscribed to nearly 50 RSS feeds.
You get the heebie jeebies when you hear someone say IE.
You know all the shortcuts by heart and can work in Photoshop blindfolded.
Your Bookmark collection is begging for mercy.
You get seriously MAD when someone uses Typeface and Font interchangeably.

I did a bit of search and ended up with these awesome stuff as well…..

You get totally pissed when you realize the free Photoshop brushes you downloaded are less than 1000px in size.
You’ve learned your lesson and stopped using the word ‘Final’ in any file name when saving.
You see CMYK and RGB like Neo sees the Matrix.
When you look at an Album art, all you see are Grunge Photoshop Brushes (you notice the album art a few minutes later)
You’ve actually paid $ for a font.
You have an amazingly huge Font collection and an amazingly high temper.
You giggle whenever you use the colors F0CCED, EFF0FF and 44DDDD.
You maintain a grid system for your refrigerator magnets.
You sit at work for eight hours straight just looking at your monitor, waiting for a spark of inspiration that doesn’t come.
The hottest dream you ever had was “Trace contour… Find Edges… Pinch… Extrude… Smudge Stick… Motion Blur…. Sprayed Strokes…”
You know Lorem Ipsum by heart.
Looking at a menu makes you go “hmmm, ITC Baskerville italic” rather than “mmmm, lunch!
“CTRL + Z is the first thing that comes to your mind when you drop something.
You refer to colleagues as Strict, Transitional, Loose and the Future Unemployed.

And finally,

15. You think this was a great idea for a blog post ;)

[source 1, 2]

So, you still think you are a Designer?

You are more than welcome to add your suggestions. This list is by no means, exhaustive. So, get your thinking caps on and shoot with everything you’ve got!

I’d like to finish this article with a quotation :) This is something for you to ponder about!! (Viewer discretion advised)

You non-designers, see how EVIL it looks….

How to Build a Successful and Innovative (Design) Brand Online

Richie — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 20:14:04 +0000

A brand is the personality that identifies a product, service or company and how it relates to key constituencies. Some people distinguish the psychological aspect, brand associations like thoughts, feelings, perceptions, images, experiences, beliefs, attitudes, and so on that become linked to the brand. A brand evokes passion, perseverance, power and the desire to succeed.

Take a moment and ask yourself this question “Why does my competitor’s business get more attention than mine?” The answer just may have to do with the elements that go into how memorable the business is, and this is where Branding comes into picture.

But exactly what is a brand, anyway?

A brand is the identity of a specific product, service, or business. A brand can take many forms, including a name, sign, symbol, color combination or slogan. The word brand began simply as a way to tell one person’s cattle from another by means of a hot iron stamp. Since then, it has continued to evolve to encompass identity – it affects the personality of a product, company or service.

Think of branding as predefining what a company is all about in the minds of its clients. Good branding differentiates your products and services in a positive way that really sticks in the minds of potential customers.

How has Design influenced my life?

Ever since I became obsessed with Art and Design, I’ve garnered a lot of wisdom and conscience and this has helped me evolve into a better thinker and has totally transformed my observational skills. The power of Design, or should I say, the Influence of Design has had a phenomenal change on my work ethics and my everyday life. I experience these results quite frequently; when I speak with my friends, when I go out for a walk or even when I visit the mall.

Things are beginning to show a lot of new meanings and a whole new world has awakened within me. After all this time, the best way I can put it is, ‘Being a Designer totally kicks ass’. The moment I see something, I start to notice the “art” in it. This happens frequently when I visit the mall. Every time I see a hoarding or a sign or better yet, a logo, my “designer” mind in me starts its engines. ‘What typeface is that?’, ‘Will that look better in different color palettes?’, ‘I could do way better than that design!’ and so on. And when I start to think of it, i feel really proud that I can notice all these intricate details and the people around me are so damn clueless about it. Realizing this makes me feel I’m top of the creativity chain.

The very title of being addressed as a ‘Designer’ is quite an honor because the truth is, we designers make awesome stuff happen. It is that simple. Where would the world be without us? From the smallest details of the shape of a fountain pen nib to the design of the NASA Space Shuttle, our contribution is everywhere. We are the reason the world is such a beautiful and a simplified place to dwell in. Granted, the skeleton of innovation is mostly due to the scientists and innovators but c’mon let’s face it, without us, even their works will go to a bitter waste.

Well, coming back to the topic, How can you transform your skills into creating a Brand that symbolizes accomplishment and epitomises success. What are the things you need to keep in mind if you are planning to build a brand and decide to pursue your goals.

Whether you are an art student who is doing your course at a Design University or a visionary who has little or no educational background in the design industry, you can always grow from a little speck of talent to a household name. You may wonder how you are able to even think of achieving such a gigantic feat. Well, that’s what Branding is all about.

So, from my experiences and ideas, I’d like to share a few things which I feel would be the best steps to build a successful (Design) Brand on the web and maybe even take it to the next level.

This is a long article, so there are chances that I might wander a bit off track sometimes. But, I have broken down this article into succinct points so identify those areas where you occupy the back seat and try to understand them more than the others. I would love to hear your opinions about this (both positive and negative) :)

Times change and so must you

In the past, self-help management was about improving oneself and following the old school methods. If you wanted to be more level-headed you took a meditation class; if you wanted to be a better designer, you studied Paul Rand, David Carson and William Morris; if you were looking to advance your career, you’d get a Masters Degree. The advent of the World Wide Web and the rise of social media has changed all that.

The Internet has provided us unparalleled access to audiences. Twitter, Facebook, blogs and online communities have allowed no-names to become household names and people have taken notice. There are books, blogs, experts and companies to help you build your ‘personal brand’. They’ll tell you that all you need for personal branding is a business card, blog, profiles on LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube and Facebook, and a personal style; and you are on your highway to success.

Let us indulge ourselves into understanding what makes a Brand and how can we take this “brand” and build a successful empire out of it.

1) Create an Identity

The first thing to do is create an identity for yourself. Choose a name that best reflects the designs you focus on. You can either follow the old school method of prefixing/suffixing the word ‘Design’, ‘Creativity’ or ‘Art’; for example, ‘The Design Observer‘, ‘Sick Designer‘, ‘Design you Trust‘ and ‘Creativenerds‘ or you can be unique and chose a special name that suits you best. Some of the best ones that I’ve seen are ‘Retinart‘, ‘Synaptic Stimuli’, to name a few. Or you can meddle with your maiden name and create a brand that will last forever, for example ‘Marcofolio‘, ‘Iamfinch‘, and so on.

Like any other successful piece of art, choosing a name is not so easy. It requires a lot of research, thinking, mind mapping and sometimes even sketching out a lot of ideas. To come up with a name that will stand the test of times and become memorable, I suggest you choose an area of design or art that you are very passionate about and start your ‘name finding’ journey with that. Usually, Latin and Greek equivalents are a great source of inspiration.

However, make sure you are careful enough NOT to pick a name which is:

hard to remember

might become out-dated as your business/brand grows

conflicts the interests of others who are in the same field

Choose a name that’s unique, short, easy to say and easy to spell; however having the potential to be memorable and stand up among the crowd

Types of Brand names:

Brand names come in many styles. A few include:

Acronym: A name made of initials such as UPS or IBM

Descriptive: Names that describe a product benefit or function like Whole Foods or Airbus

Alliteration and rhyme: Names that are fun to say and stick in the mind like Reese’s Pieces or Dunkin’ Donuts

Evocative: Names that evoke a relevant vivid image like Amazon or Crest

Neologisms: Completely made-up words like Wii or Kodak

Foreign word: Adoption of a word from another language like Volvo or Samsung

Founders’ names: Using the names of real people like Hewlett-Packard or Disney

Geography: Many brands are named for regions and landmarks like Cisco and Fuji Film

Personification: Many brands take their names from myth like Nike or from the minds of ad execs like Betty Crocker

The act of associating a product or service with a brand has become part of pop culture. Most products have some kind of brand identity, from common table salt to designer jeans.

2) Design a Logo, choose the colours and invent a tag line

A successful brand is (almost) always identified by its Logo. Nothing reflects a company’s vision, personality and strategy more than its brand image. And nothing expresses an organisation’s brand image more quickly than its logo. Your logo, or brand identity, is the visual centrepiece of your organisation.

The world has evolved much since the advent of the World Wide Web and is today evolving at an exponential rate far beyond our pace of understanding. Changing markets, increasing competition and educated consumers have made building brand recognition, a challenging task.

Ask yourself the question, “How can my logo stand out?” The answer is quite simple: Simplicity. There is no greater visual relief than a simple, well designed logo that at first glance captures the name and feel of a company. These days our minds are in such overwhelm processing the demands of visual stimulation that we filter out anything too colourful, complicated and wordy. Today, as the information age moves forward, our attention span is going the opposite way. We want simple, positive communication we can relate to and remember easily.

Choosing the right Logo

A good logo needs to evoke a specific emotional response in the consumer for it to be remembered. As a matter of fact, Emotional connectivity and simplicity increase your brand’s chances for longevity which is a crucial factor in building a successful brand.

A few tips on creating a good logo. Your logo must:

be simple, natural and friendly

have a strong yet encompass balanced imagery with less or no other elements

be distinctive and bold in design, making it easy to see at a glance

have graphic elements that reflect your business/brand and your brand name

communicates your business clearly

look good in black and white, as well as in color.

Decide on what impression you want to make and what message you want to convey? : Professional integrity, warmth and friendliness, strength and stability or elegance and sophistication?

The right set of colours, fonts and imagery work together to convey this message instantly and concisely to those who need to hear it; the wrong choices can confuse the message and give your prospect the wrong impression.

Choosing the right Colours

Different colours convey different moods. Red symbolizes luck, energy, passion; Blue symbolizes corporate, professionalism, stability and conservativeness; Green symbolizes an organic self; brown signifies luxury, elegance and taste. So, make sure you choose the right colours which reflect your brand.

Choosing the right Typeface

Likewise, choosing the right typeface involves a lot of research and experimentation. Serifs signify professionalism. Sans Serifs symbolize friendliness, approachability, boldness and audacity. Ask yourself this question while choosing the typeface for your logo: “What impression do I get from this font? Does it reflect my brand and qualify as a yardstick to its success?” Also, don’t be afraid to pay for just the right font – fonts are relatively inexpensive and can make or break a design

Choosing the best tag line

A tag line is a three to seven word phrase that accompanies your logo. It expresses your company’s most important benefits and/or what you want your customers to remember about working with you.

Great tag lines appear to be effortlessly created because they just seem to flow. In fact, creating and refining one takes time, just like designing a great logo. The benefits of taking the time to craft a great tag line lie with the tag line’s stickiness. Great tag lines stick in your memory.

3) Set up your brand online

This is one of the most important things to do once you have chosen the right name for your brand. This is the world of cybersquatting and parked domains so it also wise that you do a thorough check on the availability of the domain names while you are busy researching for your brand name. Typically, a .com TLD works great but I’ve also seen some very popular websites which do not have the .com TLD.

Once you decide on a name (and sometimes even when you are looking at the final list of names), buy the URL immediately (you can do this on GoDaddy, NameCheap and other sites for $10 or less). If the URL is not available, use the Whois.net directory to identify the owner. See if they are using the URL for business purposes and contact the owner from a personal e-mail address (you don’t want to overpay especially for a niche name, and when they see a business address, their eyes may light up with dollar signs).

4) Utilize the Power of the Social Media

Obviously you must have noticed the remarkable influence the Social Networks has had on the users. It has completely transformed the way we learn and share things. It has created a new platform to grow and evolve as a designer and an entrepreneur. In a nut shell, it is the best thing that has ever happened after the birth of the Internet :)

Twitter and Facebook have been monumental in helping creative individuals build a brand online. I am an avid user of both and I can say, within 5 months, I was able to rocket my blog out of obscurity and into something everyone were eager to read. So, this is not just an advice, it is an order :) I’m sure you have a Facebook profile. So, just create a group/fan page and start sharing it with your friends. This will help you a lot in the promotions.

Create a twitter account under your brand name (it is better if this account is different from your personal account, if you have any) and start following established design blogs who are already doing great on twitter and also follow those designers who are new to the field just like you are. This is the right time to build a great community and become a part of something great.

5) Start building your Portfolio

As a designer, you are entrusted by the laws of Creativity to show the world how awesome you are! Start showcasing your work online as this is the best way to get some exposure and if you are lucky, a design studio might be interested in hiring you :) There are many portfolio websites which allow you to showcase your works. A few of my favourites being Deviant Art, Behance, CarbonMade, Wix and so on.

Alternatively, once you’ve bought the domain and the webspace from a trustworthy webhost, the next immediate thing to do is to create a portfolio site and start uploading your works as and when you do it. You may use Flash, the WordPress framework or any other CMS favourable to you or even build the entire thing from scratch; it is left to you.

6) Start a Blog/Website

WordPress, blogger and typepad have free templates that you can use for your blog. With the recent developments in the open source community, there has been a drastic increase in the popularity of the Wordpres blogging platform and there are over thousands of themes available for free downloading, so choose the right one and start off sharing your ideas and thoughts. Choose the template that best matches your blog’s content, audience and mood.

Starting a successful design blog is like learning to walk: You will most likely fail a number of times, you’ll need a lot of patience, and you can’t do it on your own. –Preston Lee

Eventually, work on designing your theme and start using it on your blog. As a designer, you are pretty much expected to design a theme that best reflects your passion to learn and design. So, work on your blog’s redesign in your secret bunker and when the time is right, release it to the public. With the right amount of promotion, you can usher in a new era for your blog.

7) Pave way for Brand Awareness and Promote smartly

Brand awareness refers to customers’ ability to recall and recognize the brand under different conditions and link to the brand name, logo and so on to certain associations in memory. It helps the customers to understand to which product or service category the particular brand belongs to and what products and services are sold under the brand name.

It also ensures that customers know which of their needs are satisfied by the brand through its products. ‘Brand love’, or love of a brand, is an emerging term encompassing the perceived value of the brand image. Brand love levels are measured through social media posts about a brand, or tweets of a brand on sites such as Twitter. Becoming a Facebook fan of a particular brand is also a measurement of the level of ‘brand love’.

8) Define ‘what makes you, YOU’

Some of the most profound questions in Science are also the most intangible. “Who are you? How do you discover you inner self? Why is there such a diversification in the class of people?”

A Picasso always looks like Picasso painted it. A Beethoven symphony always sounds like a Beethoven symphony. Part of being a master is learning how to sing nobody else’s voice but your own. Every artist is looking for their big, definitive moment, whether they’re a master or not. That’s the moment where they finally find their true voice, once and for all.

Recognizing your strengths is important, and you should wear them with pride. This doesn’t mean being conceited, but knowing that the things that make you exceptional also help you to meet challenges. There are always going to be some days when you just feel moody, tired, or depressed. This is when it’s most important to call on your strengths. It may sound a bit cheesy—but it’s vital to your happiness. This type of self-knowledge helps people to reach their full potential, meet their goals, and in short, to succeed.

To be able to discover yourself, you need a bit of luck too. Put your whole self into what you are doing and wish to do, and you will find your true inner voice. Hold back and you won’t. It’s that simple!

9) Believe in Change and embrace the future

In order to manoeuvre the new realities, not only do you have to be creative, but also change and evolve as the world does–not just within your particular profession ,but in everything. Your way of looking at the world will need to become ever more fertile and original. And this isn’t true just for artists, writers, techies, creative directors and CEOs; this is true for everybody.

Charles Darwin, the father of evolution once said: “It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change.”

Pay close attention on the human mentalities that keep changing. Try to analyze what people are beginning to like and dislike, what standards are they adopting in their profession and life.

10) Apply the aspects of Design thinking in your works

Design thinking (or creative thinking) is a process for practical, creative resolution of problems or issues that looks for an improved future result. It is the essential ability to combine empathy, creativity and rationality to meet user needs and drive business success. Unlike analytical thinking, design thinking is a creative process based around the “building up” of ideas.

Timothy Brown, founder of IDEO and a pioneer in developing conventional aspects of Design thinking explains in an article which he wrote for the Harvard Business Review: “Design Thinking is a discipline that uses the designer’s sensibility and methods to match people’s needs with what is technologically feasible and what a viable business strategy can convert into customer value and market opportunity.”

The very notion of Design goes beyond creating cool websites or designing extraordinary pieces of work using Photoshop. It is about how efficiently you can think to be able to embrace innovation and creativity in your work ethics.

You can read more about Innovation and Design thinking in one of my previous articles — Design Thinking : 10 Ways to foster Innovation

11) Measure your success periodically

How does one define or measure Success? Is it about getting the top rank in your class or is it being able to sell all your products at a lesser price?

Success can be something very simple like actually getting up out of bed in the morning, awakening to a new day, knowing that you are ready for a new phase in your life; or it can be something more intense and emotionally provoking such as: a dream finally being realised and the knowledge that you can be proud of these accomplishments.

Either way Success is gained from your belief in what you are doing, what you want to achieve and more importantly how you go about realizing that goal.

Never forget to evaluate your work. When you are in the process of designing something, take a moment and look at your work and ask this question to yourself: “What would I think if someone asked my sincere opinions about this design? What kind of suggestions would I offer them to improve this? Is there a possibility to use the elements in a more efficient manner? Can I make it work with less?” Once you are able to justify the above questions, you are on the right path of being responsible enough to tabulate your success.

Step out of your usual design routine and think differently and ask yourself, “What if I had taken this route to achieve this design?” Try to get out of the habit of solving design problems in the same way you usually do and force yourself to approach the design differently than you normally would.

Ultimately, no matter how success is measured or defined, it is what you believe it is that counts.

12) Build trust into your brand

Any brand, no matter how memorable, will fail to achieve its goals if it does not gain the public’s trust. If you’re anything like the rest of us, you tend to put your faith in brands that feel authentic and are relevant to your life. That is to say that you believe in brands that are speaking with you, not at you. Finally, the strongest brands get their fans to spread the word for them. All the fancy advertising and letter-pressed business cards in the world won’t do any good if your brand can’t perform the way it says it will. Especially in today’s hyper-connected world, any bad customer interaction will spread like wildfire.

The best example of a solid Design Brand that I can think of at the moment is the TUTS+ Network. They have relentlessly aimed at providing the best tutorials for the creative community and now it has become a household name. I don’t think there is any artist on the web today who isn’t aware of the TUTS+ Network. So, building trust into your brand is not only difficult, but it is highly important. Providing relevant content to the readers is one of the best ways to start building trust into your brand. Being relevant is not just about the stuff that interests you the most but it is about reaching deep down and speaking to that part of your audience’s hearts where their excitement is concentrated—the core, if you will, that represents something very significant to them.

Building trust with consumers is never easy. You can’t just put up a Facebook fan page or send out some coupons and hope that people are going to fall in love with your brand. You have to do the hard work of getting to know your customers and always stay focused on helping them to achieve their goals. But helping people in this way is a sure-fire secret to putting your brand on a path to success. People are most loyal to the brands that matter to their lives.

13) Growing a Brand, Growing a team….

The best thing that has ever happened to me ever since I joined the design world is: I made a lot of friends. It gives me such immense pleasure to know that I can rely on the suggestions and opinions of these creative individuals, most of them who live at the opposite ends of the world and I’ve never even seen them once, and yet I feel so proud to be part of such a creative network.

So, start building a community and participate in a constructive discussion among your fellow designers. Join a forum, teach beginners what you know and share your knowledge. Most of all do it with passion.

Your passion will drive the success of your online community. Your face will be the strand that connects others in relationship with each other. Your words will set the tone for discussion. It’s your community, make the very best of it. –Brandon Cox

Successful brands employ the best people in the industry. Start building a team of creative professionals. You don’t have to always have PhDs in your team to make it a success. Choosing the right people takes a lot effort. Passionate guys are the key to a formidable team so “hire” the team which meshes best with your personality, aesthetic preferences and goals and choose those who are ready to do anything for what they love to do.

14) Cultivate the habits of successful design driven companies

Brand is a perception in the mind of your customer that is relevant with who you are and what you do.
To succeed in branding you must understand the needs and wants of your customers and prospects. You do this by integrating your brand strategies through your company at every point of public contact.

These habits include:

1) Put DESIGN on the agenda of every meeting

2) Have a formal Design Board

3) Invite Top Designers to address your group

4) Openly use the emotional language of Design

5) Have great ART on your walls and Support it

6) Embrace Simplicity, Clarity, Grace and Beauty

15) Discover your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats

I believe one of the best ways to identify your strengths, weaknesses is to try out a lot of new techniques and new ideas while you are involved in the creative process. Don’t be break up with your design just because you don’t see any possible relevance in it and for the fear that you might end up with a bad result because it didn’t turn out the way you expected. The power of the human brain is such that it will contemplate new ideas when put in such unforeseen circumstances.

Experimenting allows you to see different ideas and concepts, your mind would not have envisioned. It allows you to transcend your mundane thinking into creating extraordinary works. This result in awakening your short comings, setbacks and helps you improve your works and any learn from mistakes which you can stop committing in the future.

Use your opportunities efficiently. I always say, “Don’t try be to and idealist or a realist, rather try to be an opportunist“. You never know what your future has in store for you so keep pushing your boundaries and as a result you will be able to evaluate your chances, competition and threats that might impede your process of brand development.

Success without taking risks is impossible. Mistakes are a part and parcel in the process of achieving extraordinary results. A good designer is not taken apart by such mistakes, rather he learns from it. Gain wisdom from your own mistakes and use this to accelerate self-improvement. Learning from mistakes along with risk taking are very essential to be a success designer. The important thing is to view mistakes as a useful stepping stone to a higher reality and better outlook on life.

16) Promise what you can deliver; Deliver what you can promise

Your brand image creates expectations. It defines who you are, how you operate, and how you’re different from your competitors. In essence, your brand image is a promise – a promise that must be kept. Your brand promise is irrelevant if your customers do not believe it. Therefore, your promise must be supported by reasons-to-believe. This will automatically add substance to the promise and define specific expectations for the customer.

For example, an automobile manufacturer promises potential customers that Car X is an “intelligent choice for urban drivers.” What makes it an intelligent choice? Why should the customer believe this promise?

So, give your customers the reason to believe in your brand and leave it to them to take it further.

Building a great design brand is not just about creating great products but it is about reaching deep down to the heart of your clients and leaving a unforgettable impression. If you are passionate about what you do, you will most certainly reach the apex of your success.

So, I hope you enjoyed reading the article as much as I did writing it. It is quite a comprehensive article so I don’t expect you to read it at one shot. Take your time, set your priorities, choose the area you feel you are weak in and you can focus more on that area. I would love to hear your opinions about this article. if you have any valuable points to add to this article, you are more than welcome to do so. So, Good Luck; Go out there and make ideas happen :)

Here are a couple of presentations which are worth watching.

Growing a Brand. Growing a Team.

What is Design

Sources and Further Inspiration:

1) Brand First, Branding Second

2) What’s in a Brand name?

3) 5 Steps to Brand Building

4) 7 myths of building online communities

5) The timeless brand identity

6) What is branding?

7) Wikipedia

25 Must Read articles on Design, Typography and Web Development – 2

Richie — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 17:58:24 +0000

I am currently working on a really good article about Inspiration and (coincidentally) Steve Jobs. In that article, I plan to explain how we can seek inspiration from Jobs’ work ethics, his dynamic attitude towards life, his love towards what he does and everything else. Until that surfaces out, let us look into those articles which have been making some rounds on my Twitter stream lately.

As i said in my previous article, I am an avid user of Stumble Upon and using it, I find great articles and resources on the web every day.

So, I thought the best thing would be to share them with you so that you get a taste of how the web is filled with creative writers and designers.

There are so many great articles on the web today and most of them are left undiscovered by the bigger part of the Design community. This maybe due to the increasing number of list posts, tutorials and like. However I think this will shed some light upon these articles and motivate us to write better and publish great and useful content.

Also, I shall keep you guys posted whenever I find articles worth reading and share them with you. So, stick around and enlighten yourself….

1) What do you do when someone steals your content?

The first step in learning about what you can do when someone steals your content is to know that it will happen, so the more prepared and informed you are, the better your chances of prevention and having a plan in place when they steal. There have been numerous cases in plagiarism in the world of design. ‘Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery’ or is it?

2) The Brain as a System and the Creative Tool

Creativity is a vague term, and is commonly regarded a gift or a talent that can not be learnt. As designers, we rely on the ability to create something out of nothing, and originality is valuable—if not necessary. Designers use a variety of tactics in order to produce good ideas, but few of these are rooted in science and an understanding of how the brain functions. The problem might be that designers are unaware that such ideas and techniques exist. It might also be based on misconceptions about what creativity is.

This article will explain how the brain organises itself, how it is a system that has to be beat in order to generate creative ideas and how it can be done.

3) The Origins of ABC : Where does our alphabet come from?

We see it every day on signs, billboards, packaging, in books and magazines; in fact, you are looking at it now — the Latin or Roman alphabet, the world’s most prolific, most widespread ABC. Typography is a relatively recent invention, but to unearth the origins of alphabets, we will need to travel much farther back in time, to an era contemporaneous with the emergence of (agricultural) civilization itself.

This is one of the most beautifully explained article about typography on the web, and it’s a no-brainer that it has been written by the best writers on ILT.

4) The Art and Tradition of Typography

For over 25 years Microsoft has been very focused on the development of type and type technologies. In order to fully understand the technical foundations of typography in Windows, a brief overview of some of the highlights of “typographic engineering” from the past 500 years can add some useful insight. Now, by referring to 500 years of type, there is a clear reference to Johannes Gutenberg and his involvement in the development of movable metal type in Europe. Although much of this discussion is centered on the development of type and typography for Latin based scripts, there is an equivalent rich history of other type scripts throughout the world.

5) Designing for the Mind

What makes a Design Good? Is it merely an opinion, or is there something more to it? Breaking design down seems like such an abstract thing. Even the designers who are able to create thought-provoking work seem purely talented and have natural abilities that can’t really be nailed down to a process. But what if there were principles that captured why design and art worked the way that they do?

6) A Periodic Table of HTML5 Elements

The very creatively executed table in this website shows the 104 elements currently in the HTML5 working draft and two proposed elements (marked with an asterisk). Data visualization take a new step into the future!

7) What advice would you give to a Graphic Design Student?

Design does not equal client work. It’s hard to make purple work in a design. The things your teachers tell you in class are not gospel. You will get conflicting information. It means that both are wrong. Or both are true. This never stops. Most decisions are gray, and everything lives on a spectrum of correctness and suitability.

An excellent article by Frank Chimero (thanks to @designinformer for the share)

8) Different breeds of Tweets

A very creative and (almost) accurate depiction of the various breeds of tweets that fill your twitter stream.

9) A Handy Guide to Image Resolutions in Print Design

Using an unsuitable image resolution is one of the most popular errors designers make when creating designs for print. The result is a fuzzy print quality, or having your file is rejected by your local printer. If you don’t keep an eye on your image resolution right from the start you may end up having to completely recreate your design file so here’s a handy guide on what to look out for, and how to ensure your designs are set up with the correct image resolutions.

10) Photoshop has (almost) nothing to do with Graphic Design

Yes, Photoshop is, today, an essential tool of graphic design. Yes, knowing our tools well make our jobs easier and can help our work become beautiful — there is no denying that. But it isn’t enough to know the tools well without an idea to which they can be applied. The expressions these tools craft will be without soul, meaning or story. The idea is not validated by the tools used to craft its expression. But the tool does find validation in the expression. The tool relies on it to be considered valuable. Photoshop is no different than any other tool.

11) Russia In color, a century ago

In those years, photographer Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorskii (1863-1944) undertook a photographic survey of the Russian Empire with the support of Tsar Nicholas II. He used a specialized camera to capture three black and white images in fairly quick succession, using red, green and blue filters, allowing them to later be recombined and projected with filtered lanterns to show near true color images.

The high quality of the images, combined with the bright colors, make it difficult for viewers to believe that they are looking 100 years back in time – when these photographs were taken, neither the Russian Revolution nor World War I had yet begun. Collected here are a few of the hundreds of color images made available by the Library of Congress, which purchased the original glass plates back in 1948.

This does not belong to the above mentioned topics but I thought this was a great post from the Boston Picture and found worthy enough to share. Btw, these contain some great photography.

12) MURO – The super cool image editor from Deviant Art

13) Typominima WordPress Theme: Typography meets Minimal (via @speckyboy)

If you’re looking for a free theme to help you put the content in spotlight, without worrying about it being suffocated by advertising space and unnecessary design blign, than Typominima is the perfect free WordPress theme for you.

14) The Finest Creative Blogs Gallery

15) People you have to be following on Twitter (via @brad_clay)

Twitter is constantly getting bigger so it’s important to keep tabs on who’s who in this industry. In this article, Sean Farrell has compiled a list of the people that you should probably be following if you currently aren’t. He has organized them in different categories in case you want to be specific and follow the ones in your area of work.

16) The Influence of Art History on Modern Design – Cubism

The emerging of new technologies like photography, the motor car, cinematography and the airplane have led the artists to feel the need for a more radical approach, a new way of seeing that will expand the possibilities of art like the new technologies were extending the limits of communication and travel. This new way of seeing was called Cubism, also known as the first abstract style of modern art.

17) Are we taking CSS too far?

CSS is a remarkable technology, capable of doing things that I wouldn’t have even dreamed of when I was first introduced to it. And, with added support for rounded corners, box shadows, text shadows, rotation and a wide range of other possibilities, web designers and developers can accomplish all sorts of amazing things when it comes to applying a design to a website. But are we starting to take things too far?

18) Resolution Independent Mobile UI (via @mixn)

This article is specifically about pixel “density”, a relatively new concern to digital designers. In the mobile environment, screen resolution has been quickly advancing, resulting in larger and larger “pixels per inch” (ppi).

19) Ten Laws to Design By

As designers we have to be aware of the function of our work and design as much as we care about the aesthetics and visuals. There are a lot of terms for the design of how the site functions and works, from “usability design” to “user experience,” what remains constant is that if we want to become better designers we have to pair these two concepts together.

Using clear and effective design laws as guides we can use proven formulas for better design. These laws both assist in the usability / experience of our design as well as the aesthetic values. Furthermore being able to refer and cite these laws when presenting or discussing design you can further establish yourself as a expert with justified reasons for your design choices.

20) Consumption: How Inspiration Killed, Then Ate, Creativity

For creatives, the definition of the word “inspiration” has lost its meaning. It’s no longer a spark of intuition to solve the uniqueness in a problem, but a search for the current and complacent solutions created by others. As a creative collective the term “inspiration” has driven us to become lethargic to the realities, foundations, and intentions of our chosen craft.

21) Web Design Plagiarism

To Web developers, code is poetry and design is art. They spend countless hours hammering out attractive, functional and effective designs. They edit images, layout pages, write code and produce body copy with the same skill and craftsmanship as many artists, authors and musicians do.

However, as many designers have found out, their craft is just as vulnerable to plagiarism as the arts that they relate with. However, unlike plagiarism of most other kinds of work, the law is much less clear on what is and is not protected, thus limiting the amount of protection a designer receives for their work.

22) The problem with Creativity (by @philipbrunner)

Creativity is defined as the tendency to generate or recognize ideas, alternatives, or possibilities that may be useful in solving problems.

Have you ever watched children use their imagination? Children have the most amazing creative powers. They can utilize the most unusual things and make a kingdom out of it. So, what happened to us? Why did we stop being so creative? Some of the principal differences between us and children are that they haven’t yet been inhibited by family, institutions or society.

23) The Surprising Truth About Ugly Websites

Ugly sells. That’s right – ugly websites are surprisingly effective in making money. Read this article to find out more :)

24) No Designer Gets It Right the First Time

The work you do as a creative is for (and judged by) other people. No matter how much time, effort, blood, sweat, and tears you put into a design, it’s unlikely that you’ll get it wholly perfect in the eyes of the head honcho. From small tweaks in color schemes to flat out rejections and having to start over, top design professionals recount their experiences in revising and polishing their designs for their clients.

25) Designing Web Interfaces

Odds are good if you are designing a enterprise software or a productivity web application, you’ll need a number of these components. Don’t spend time and effort on (re)designing these ancillary features- try these solutions instead.

Ok! Those were the ’25 Picks of the week’ articles on design, web development and related topics. I hope you like reading them as much as I did and implement and apply them in your works. I will continue to feature such great articles every week. Most of these can be found in my Twitter stream as well. So, go ahead and follow me on Twitter : @richbugger

As always, you can share any good articles that you’ve written or found on the web and I shall be happy to feature it here. As a thank you note, here is a little something which I think you should take a look at : Unicorn and Rainbows (discretion advised) :D

40 Spectacular images of the Stellar Universe and beyond, from NASA

Richie — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 18:04:57 +0000

“Where do we come from? How did the universe begin? Why is the universe the way it is? How will it end?” These questions have baffled astrophysicists and mathematicians for centuries. We still have no clear explanation or evidence as to what our very purpose in this universe is. Hundreds of years ago, everyone believed that the Earth was at the center of the universe. Today we know better, but a complete picture of the universe remains elusive. From the ancient notion of a flat Earth to today’s theories on the very shape of past and future history, ideals of the universe have evolved with the help of scientific discovery and the eternal human imagination.

The History of our Universe

The most popular theory of our universe’s origin centers on a cosmic cataclysm unmatched in all of history—The Big Bang. This theory was born of the observation that other galaxies are moving away from our own at great speeds, in all directions, as if they had all been propelled by an ancient explosive force.

Before the big bang, scientists believe, the entire vastness of the observable universe, including all of its matter and radiation, was compressed into a hot, dense mass just a few millimeters across. This nearly incomprehensible state is theorized to have existed for just a fraction of the first second of time.

Big bang proponents suggest that some 10 billion to 20 billion years ago, a massive blast allowed all the universe’s known matter and energy—even space and time themselves—to spring from some ancient and unknown type of energy.

The theory maintains that, in the instant—a trillion-trillionth of a second—after the big bang, the universe expanded with incomprehensible speed from its pebble-size origin to astronomical scope. Expansion has apparently continued, but much more slowly, over the ensuing billions of years.

Scientists can’t be sure exactly how the universe evolved after the big bang. Many believe that as time passed and matter cooled, more diverse kinds of atoms began to form, and they eventually condensed into the stars and galaxies of our present universe.

The big bang theory leaves several major questions unanswered. One is the original cause of the big bang itself. Several answers have been proposed to address this fundamental question, but none has been proven—and even adequately testing them has proven to be a formidable challenge.

The Hubble Space Telescope:

The Hubble Space Telescope was designed to free astronomers of a limitation that has plagued them since the days of Galileo—Earth’s atmosphere. Shifting air pockets in the atmosphere block and distort light, limiting the view from even the most powerful Earth-bound instruments. Orbital telescopes function as eyes in the sky that allow astronomers to peer farther into the universe and see the cosmos more clearly.

Scientists began dreaming of such a telescope in the 1940s, but it took more than four decades for those dreams to become reality with the Hubble Space Telescope. The telescope’s original October 1986 launch was scrapped after the loss of the space shuttle Challenger. When the telescope finally became operational in 1990, it began to return unprecedented but flawed images. Its images were superior to those of Earth-bound instruments but slightly blurred due to an optical problem.

Hubble’s images have helped to pin down the age of the universe, which the expansion rate of pulsating stars suggests is some 13 billion to 14 billion years. Hubble has also captured images of many ancient galaxies, in all stages of evolution, and so lets scientists see back into the past days of a young and developing universe. The telescope was also instrumental in the discovery of dark energy, a little-known but ubiquitous force that works against gravity and contributes to the ongoing expansion of the universe. Hubble also measures the atmospheres of planets outside our own solar system, exploring their compositions and building data that could someday aid the search for extraterrestrial life.

Despite its many achievements, Hubble is likely nearing the end of its life. The telescope is due for its last periodic servicing in May 2009. Its successor, the James Webb Space Telescope, is scheduled for launch in 2013. The new instrument will orbit much farther from Earth (940,000 miles/1.5 million kilometers)—the better to peer farther through the dust of space into the earliest formations of stars, solar systems, and galaxies.

The Journey begins….

I have been an avid sky watcher since my young age. I am still fascinated by the very concept of the solar system, our presence in this cosmic universe and the fact that we have been able to evolve so much for thousands of years and have gained the propensity to think, ideate, contemplate theories, materialize our thoughts and perform path breaking experiments. Man is such an enigmatic creation of nature, just as enigmatic as the universe itself. We have developed technology to look beyond our imagination and see the beauty of the universe, the way it is supposed to be seen. We have traveled(visually) to the very depths of the universe and looked into the deepest of the galaxies. Yet, much remains to been seen and discovered as we slowly move towards the edge of what we might call ‘The Dawn of a new beginning’.

However, I shall keep my philosophical gibberish for another article and let us now travel to the very depths of space and begin to wonder at the mysteries as the universe unfold itself!

1) Hubble Sees ‘Island Universe’ in the Coma Cluster

A long-exposure Hubble Space Telescope image shows a majestic face-on spiral galaxy located deep within the Coma Cluster of galaxies, which lies 320 million light-years away in the northern constellation Coma Berenices.

2) A Galactic Spectacle

A beautiful new image of two colliding galaxies has been released by NASA’s Great Observatories. The Antennae galaxies, located about 62 million light-years from Earth, are shown in this composite image from the Chandra X-ray Observatory (blue), the Hubble Space Telescope (gold and brown), and the Spitzer Space Telescope (red). The Antennae galaxies take their name from the long antenna-like “arms,” seen in wide-angle views of the system. These features were produced by tidal forces generated in the collision.

3) Great Ball of Fire

On August 1, 2010, almost the entire Earth-facing side of the sun erupted in a tumult of activity. This image from the Solar Dynamics Observatory of the news-making solar event on August 1 shows the C3-class solar flare (white area on upper left), a solar tsunami (wave-like structure, upper right), multiple filaments of magnetism lifting off the stellar surface, large-scale shaking of the solar corona, radio bursts, a coronal mass ejection and more.

4) The Blue Marble

View of the Earth as seen by the Apollo 17 crew traveling toward the moon. This translunar coast photograph extends from the Mediterranean Sea area to the Antarctica south polar ice cap. This is the first time the Apollo trajectory made it possible to photograph the south polar ice cap. Note the heavy cloud cover in the Southern Hemisphere. Almost the entire coastline of Africa is clearly visible. The Arabian Peninsula can be seen at the northeastern edge of Africa. The large island off the coast of Africa is Madagascar. The Asian mainland is on the horizon toward the northeast.

5) Hubble Snaps Sharp Image Of Cosmic Concoction

A colourful star-forming region is featured in this stunning new NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image of NGC 2467. Looking like a roiling cauldron of some exotic cosmic brew, huge clouds of gas and dust are sprinkled with bright blue hot young stars.

6) Starburst Cluster Shows Celestial Fireworks

Like a celebration fireworks display a young, glittering collection of stars looks like an aerial burst. The cluster is surrounded by clouds of interstellar gas and dust – the raw material for new star formation. The nebula, located 20,000 light-years away in the constellation Carina, contains a central cluster of huge, hot stars.

7) Cassiopeia A supernova

Images from NASA’s Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope show where supernova remnants emit radiation a billion times more energetic than visible light. The images bring astronomers a step closer to understanding the source of some of the universe’s most energetic particles — cosmic rays.

8 ) Hubble Captures Spectacular “Landscape” in the Carina Nebula

NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope captured this billowing cloud of cold interstellar gas and dust rising from a tempestuous stellar nursery located in the Carina Nebula, 7,500 light-years away in the southern constellation Carina. This pillar of dust and gas serves as an incubator for new stars and is teeming with new star-forming activity.

9) Image of Carina Nebula

This Hubble photo is of a small portion of one of the largest seen star-birth regions in the galaxy, the Carina Nebula. Towers of cool hydrogen laced with dust rise from the wall of the nebula. The scene is reminiscent of Hubble’s classic “Pillars of Creation” photo from 1995, but is even more striking in appearance. The image captures the top of a three-light-year-tall pillar of gas and dust that is being eaten away by the brilliant light from nearby bright stars. The pillar is also being pushed apart from within, as infant stars buried inside it fire off jets of gas that can be seen streaming from towering peaks like arrows sailing through the air.

10) Solar Eruption and a Flare

An image after a solar eruption and a flare. The dark regions show the site of evacuated material from the eruption, and the large magnetic loops were formed during the flare.

11) Sun’s surface

This close-up image of a filament and active region, taken in extreme UV light, shows a dark and elongated filament hovering above the Sun’s surface (May 18, 2010). The bright regions beneath it, which show where heating is going on in the magnetic field, send up shafts of plasma that trace magnetic field lines emerging from them. Filaments are cooler clouds of gas that are suspended by tenuous magnetic fields. They are often unstable and commonly erupt. This one is estimated to be at least 60 Earth diameters long (about 500,000 miles).

12) Barred Spiral Galaxy NGC 1300

The Hubble telescope has captured a display of starlight, glowing gas, and silhouetted dark clouds of interstellar dust in this grand image of the barred spiral galaxy NGC 1300. NGC 1300 is considered to be prototypical of barred spiral galaxies. Barred spirals differ from normal spiral galaxies in that the arms of the galaxy do not spiral all the way into the center, but are connected to the two ends of a straight bar of stars containing the nucleus at its center.

13) The Sun

The STEREO spacecraft caught this spectacular eruptive prominence in extreme UV light as it blasted away from the Sun (Apr. 12-13, 2010). This was certainly among the largest prominence eruptions ever seen. The length of the prominence appears to stretch almost halfway across the sun, about 500,000 miles. Prominences are cooler clouds of plasma that hover above the Sun’s surface, tethered by magnetic forces. They are notoriously unstable and commonly erupt as this one did in a dramatic fashion.

14) Andromeda Galaxy: Insights on White Dwarfs

This composite image of M31 (also known as the Andromeda galaxy) shows X-ray data from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory in gold, optical data from the Digitized Sky Survey in light blue and infrared data from the Spitzer Space Telescope in red. The Chandra data covers only the central region of M31 as shown in the inset box for the image.

15) Eagle Nebula M16

The soaring tower is 9.5 light-years or about 57 trillion miles high, about twice the distance from our Sun to the next nearest star. Stars in the Eagle Nebula are born in clouds of cold hydrogen gas that reside in chaotic neighborhoods, where energy from young stars sculpts fantasy-like landscapes in the gas. The tower may be a giant incubator for those newborn stars. A torrent of ultraviolet light from a band of massive, hot, young stars is eroding the pillar.

16) Infrared image of the core of the Milky Way Galaxy

The Milky Way Galaxy, commonly referred to as just the Milky Way, or sometimes simply as the Galaxy, is the galaxy in which our Solar System is located. The Milky Way is a barred spiral galaxy that is part of the Local Group of galaxies. It is one of billions of galaxies in the observable universe. Its name is a translation of the Latin Via Lactea, in turn translated from the Greek Γαλαξίας (Galaxias), referring to the pale band of light formed by stars in the galactic plane as seen from Earth

17) Image of the spiral galaxy Messier 101

The red color shows Spitzer’s view in infrared light. It highlights the heat emitted by dust lanes in the galaxy where stars can form. The yellow color is Hubble’s view in visible light. Most of this light comes from stars, and they trace the same spiral structure as the dust lanes.The blue color shows Chandra’s view in X-ray light. Sources of X-rays include million-degree gas, exploded stars, and material colliding around black holes.

18) NGC 4013

NGC 4013 is a spiral galaxy, similar to our own Milky Way, lying some 55 million light-years from Earth in the direction of the constellation Ursa Major. Viewed pole-on, it would look like a nearly circular pinwheel, but NGC 4013 happens to be seen edge-on from our vantage point. Even at 55 million light-years, the galaxy is larger than Hubble’s field of view, and the image shows only a little more than half of the object, albeit with unprecedented detail.

19) Supernova Remnant Simeis 147

Simeis 147 (a.k.a. Sharpless 2-140) is the remant of a very old supernova straddling the border of Taurus and Auriga. The shell of expanding gas has expanded to huge proportions — over 3.5 degrees wide, or more than 7 full moons wide. Due to its huge size and age, it is also extremely faint and challenging to image. This is a mosaic of two frames showing the southern portion of it.

20) The Rosette Nebula

The Rosette Nebula is a very bright and very large emission complex in the constellation of Monoceres. The open cluster contains many hot young stars whose stellar winds are slowly hollowing out the nebula. The Rosette is nearly 2° in size and is easily found in just about any amateur telescope.

21) Swan Nebula : A perfect storm of turbulent gases

Like the fury of a raging sea, this anniversary image from the NASA Hubble Space Telescope shows a bubbly ocean of glowing hydrogen, oxygen, and sulphur gas in the extremely massive and luminous molecular nebula Messier 17. This Hubble photograph captures a small region within Messier 17 (M17), a hotbed of star formation. M17, also known as the Omega or Swan Nebula, is located about 5500 light-years away in the Sagittarius constellation.

22) Red Spider Nebula

Huge waves are sculpted in this two-lobed nebula some 3000 light-years away in the constellation of Sagittarius. This warm planetary nebula harbours one of the hottest stars known and its powerful stellar winds generate waves 100 billion kilometres high. The waves are caused by supersonic shocks, formed when the local gas is compressed and heated in front of the rapidly expanding lobes. The atoms caught in the shock emit the spectacular radiation seen in this image.

23) Heart of the Whirlpool Galaxy

New images from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope are helping researchers view in unprecedented detail the spiral arms and dust clouds of a nearby galaxy, which are the birth sites of massive and luminous stars.

The Whirlpool galaxy, M51, has been one of the most photogenic galaxies in amateur and professional astronomy. Easily photographed and viewed by smaller telescopes, this celestial beauty is studied extensively in a range of wavelengths by large ground- and space-based observatories. This Hubble composite image shows visible starlight as well as light from the emission of glowing hydrogen, which is associated with the most luminous young stars in the spiral arms.

24) Cone Nebula :Hubble images ghostly star-forming pillar of gas and dust

Resembling a nightmarish beast rearing its head from a crimson sea, this celestial object is actually just a pillar of gas and dust. Called the Cone Nebula (in NGC 2264) – so named because in ground-based images it has a conical shape – this monstrous pillar resides in a turbulent star-forming region. This picture, taken by the newly installed Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) aboard the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, shows the upper 2.5 light-years of the Cone, a height that equals 23 million roundtrips to the Moon. The entire pillar is seven light-years long.

25) The Boomerang Nebula – the coolest place in the Universe?

The Boomerang Nebula is a young planetary nebula and the coldest object found in the Universe so far. The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image is yet another example of how Hubble’s sharp eye reveals surprising details in celestial objects.

This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image shows a young planetary nebula known (rather curiously) as the Boomerang Nebula. It is in the constellation of Centaurus, 5000 light-years from Earth. Planetary nebulae form around a bright, central star when it expels gas in the last stages of its life.

26) Eagle Nebula Details: Pillars of Creation

Undersea corral? Enchanted castles? Space serpents? These eerie, dark pillar-like structures are actually columns of cool interstellar hydrogen gas and dust that are also incubators for new stars. The pillars protrude from the interior wall of a dark molecular cloud like stalagmites from the floor of a cavern. They are part of the “Eagle Nebula” (also called M16), a nearby star-forming region 6,500 light-years away in the constellation Serpens.

27) Ring Nebula

The NASA Hubble Space Telescope captured the sharpest view yet of the most famous of all planetary nebulae: the Ring Nebula (M57). In this October 1998 image, the telescope looked down a barrel of gas cast off by a dying star thousands of years ago. This photo reveals elongated dark clumps of material embedded in the gas at the edge of the nebula; the dying central star floating in a blue haze of hot gas. The nebula is about a light-year in diameter and is located some 2,000 light-years from Earth in the direction of the constellation Lyra.

28) Carina Nebula Details: Keyhole Nebula

Previously unseen details of a mysterious, complex structure within the Carina Nebula (NGC 3372) are revealed by this image of the ‘Keyhole Nebula, ‘ obtained with the Hubble Space Telescope. The picture is a montage assembled from four different April 1999 telescope pointings with Hubble’s Wide Field Planetary Camera 2, which used six different colour filters. The picture is dominated by a large, approximately circular feature, which is part of the Keyhole Nebula, named in the 19th century by Sir John Herschel. The Carina Nebula also contains several other stars that are among the hottest and most massive known, each about 10 times as hot, and 100 times as massive, as our Sun.

29) Hubble images remarkable double cluster

Located in the Large Magellanic Cloud, one of our neighbouring dwarf galaxies, this young globular-like star cluster is surrounded by a pattern of filamentary nebulosity that is thought to have been created during supernova blasts. It consists of a main globular cluster in the centre and a younger, smaller cluster, seen below and to the right, composed of extremely hot, blue stars and fainter, red T-Tauri stars. This wide variety of stars allows a thorough study of star formation processes

30) Hubble Mosaic of the Majestic Sombrero Galaxy

NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has trained its razor-sharp eye on one of the universe’s most stately and photogenic galaxies, the Sombrero galaxy, Messier 104 (M104). The galaxy’s hallmark is a brilliant white, bulbous core encircled by the thick dust lanes comprising the spiral structure of the galaxy. As seen from Earth, the galaxy is tilted nearly edge-on. We view it from just six degrees north of its equatorial plane. This brilliant galaxy was named the Sombrero because of its resemblance to the broad rim and high-topped Mexican hat.

31) Hubble Spies Cosmic Dust Bunnies

Like dust bunnies that lurk in corners and under beds, surprisingly complex loops and blobs of cosmic dust lie hidden in the giant elliptical galaxy NGC 1316. This image made from data obtained with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope reveals the dust lanes and star clusters of this giant galaxy that give evidence that it was formed from a past merger of two gas-rich galaxies.

32) Hubble’s most detailed image of the Crab Nebula

This Hubble image – One among the largest ever produced with the Earth-orbiting observatory – shows gives the most detailed view so far of the entire Crab Nebula ever made. The Crab is arguably the single most interesting object, as well as one of the most studied, in all of astronomy. The image is the largest image ever taken with Hubble’s workhorse camera.

33) V838 Monocerotis

Light continues to echo three years after stellar outburst. The Hubble Space Telescope’s latest image of the star V838 Monocerotis (V838 Mon) reveals dramatic changes in the illumination of surrounding dusty cloud structures. The effect, called a light echo, has been unveiling never-before-seen dust patterns ever since the star suddenly brightened for several weeks in early 2002.

34) NGC 346

Young stars sculpt gas with powerful outflows. This Hubble Space Telescope view shows one of the most dynamic and intricately detailed star-forming regions in space, located 210,000 light-years away in the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC), a satellite galaxy of our Milky Way. At the centre of the region is a brilliant star cluster called NGC 346. A dramatic structure of arched, ragged filaments with a distinct ridge surrounds the cluster.

35) The Flame Nebula

The Flame nebula is an emission nebula in the constellation Orion. It is about 900 to 1,500 light-years away. The bright star Alnitak (ζ Ori), the easternmost star in the Belt of Orion, shines energetic ultraviolet light into the Flame and this knocks electrons away from the great clouds of hydrogen gas that reside there. Much of the glow results when the electrons and ionized hydrogen recombine. Additional dark gas and dust lies in front of the bright part of the nebula and this is what causes the dark network that appears in the center of the glowing gas. The Flame Nebula is part of the Orion Molecular Cloud Complex, a star-forming region that includes the famous Horsehead Nebula.

36) Omega Nebula

The Omega Nebula is between 5,000 and 6,000 light-years from Earth and it spans some 15 light-years in diameter. The cloud of interstellar matter of which this nebula is a part is roughly 40 light-years in diameter. The total mass of the Omega Nebula is an estimated 800 solar masses. A open cluster of 35 stars lies embedded in the nebulosity and causes the gases of the nebula to shine due to radiation from these hot, young stars.

37) Cat’s Eye Nebula

The Cat’s Eye Nebula (NGC 6543) is a planetary nebula in the constellation of Draco. Structurally, it is one of the most complex nebulae known, with high-resolution Hubble Space Telescope observations revealing remarkable structures such as knots, jets, bubbles and sinewy arc-like features. In the center of the Cat’s Eye there is a bright and hot star, which around 1000 years ago lost its outer envelope producing the nebula.

38) Horse head Nebula

The Horsehead Nebula is approximately 1500 light years from Earth. It is one of the most identifiable nebulae because of the shape of its swirling cloud of dark dust and gases, which is similar to that of a horse’s head when viewed from Earth.

The red glow originates from hydrogen gas predominantly behind the nebula, ionized by the nearby bright star Sigma Orionis. The darkness of the Horsehead is caused mostly by thick dust, although the lower part of the Horsehead’s neck casts a shadow to the left. Streams of gas leaving the nebula are funneled by a strong magnetic field. Bright spots in the Horsehead Nebula’s base are young stars just in the process of forming.

39) Liberating Star

This is a composite image of the SN 1006 supernova remnant, which is located about 7000 light years from Earth. Shown here are X-ray data from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory (blue), optical data from the University of Michigan’s 0.9 meter Curtis Schmidt telescope at the NSF’s Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO; yellow) and the Digitized Sky Survey (orange and light blue), plus radio data from the NRAO’s Very Large Array and Green Bank Telescope

40) Aurora Australis

Aurora Australis is featured in this image photographed by an Expedition 23 crew member on the International Space Station. Among the views of Earth afforded crew members aboard the ISS, surely one of the most spectacular is of the aurora. These ever-shifting displays of colored ribbons, curtains, rays, and spots are most visible near the North (Aurora Borealis) and South (Aurora Australis) Poles as charged particles streaming from the sun (the solar wind) interact with Earth’s magnetic field, resulting in collisions with atoms of oxygen and nitrogen in the upper atmosphere.

Epilogue:

Let me, in this closing paragraphs, consider where our rapidly accumulating store of knowledge about the universe is leading us. That it provides satisfaction to a host of curiosity-motivated physicists and astronomers is beyond dispute. However, some view it as a humbling experience in that each increase in knowledge seems to reveal more clearly our own relative insignificance in the grand scheme of things.

Where do we come from? How did the universe begin? Why is the universe the way it is? How will it end?

“All my life, I have been fascinated by the big questions that face us, and have tried to find scientific answers to them. If, like me, you have looked at the stars, and tried to make sense of what you see, you too have started to wonder what makes the universe exist. The questions are clear, and deceptively simple. But the answers have always seemed well beyond our reach. Until now.

The ideas which had grown over two thousand years of observation have had to be radically revised. In less than a hundred years, we have found a new way to think of ourselves. From sitting at the center of the universe, we now find ourselves orbiting an average-sized sun, which is just one of millions of stars in our own Milky Way galaxy. And our galaxy itself is just one of billions of galaxies, in a universe that is infinite and expanding. But this is far from the end of a long history of inquiry. Huge questions remain to be answered, before we can hope to have a complete picture of the universe we live in.

“I want you to share my excitement at the discoveries, past and present, which have revolutionized the way we think. From the Big Bang to black holes, from dark matter to a possible Big Crunch, our image of the universe today is full of strange sounding ideas, and remarkable truths. The story of how we arrived at this picture is the story of learning to understand what we see.”

-STEPHEN HAWKING

Although our position in the universe may be insignificant, the laws of Physics that we have discovered (uncovered?) seem to hold throughout that universe — as far as we know — since the universe began and for all future time. Ar least there is no evidence that other laws hold in other parts of the universe. Thus, until someone complains, we are entitled to stamp the laws of Physics “Discovered on Earth”. Much remains to be discovered :

“The universe is full of magical things, patiently waiting for our wits to grow sharper.”

Sources and Further Inspiration:

1) National Geo – Science and Space

2) Stephen Hawking’s Universe

3) 20 years of Hubble History under the Telescope

4) Astronomy Picture of the day – Archive

5) Hubble Site – All the Hubble news and pictures

6) Web – 18 : Breathtaking Space Photography

7) Astrophysics Pool on Flickr

The spectacular world of Time Lapse Photography

Must read articles on Design, Creativity and Web Design

Richie — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 17:28:14 +0000

I’ve been using Twitter a lot lately and posting some really interesting links. I am also an avid user of Stumble Upon and combining it with Twitter and sharing stuff is the greatest thing that I can indulge myself in. I have unraveled some really great articles in the past couple of weeks and I would love to share them with you today.

I have handpicked the best 10 articles from my twitter feed and have showcased them here. Some are purely professional, a few are funny but useful and the rest are just a pleasure to read. I suggest you take a look at these and read it to gain some wisdom on design and creativity. It has had a positive effect on the way I look at things now. My thoughts and ideas have become more dynamic and mature.

Also, I shall keep you guys posted whenever I find articles worth reading and share them with you. So, stick around and enlighten yourself….

1) How (Not) to Write like a Designer: 5 Tricks You Didn’t Learn in Studio

What follows are five fairly broad tips to keep in mind. Most of them will probably sound obvious. Some of you might be following these suggestions already. That’s good, but having them explained like this will help you see what you’re doing right, or simply give you a new way to think about how you’re already writing.

2) How to Make the Worst Website

Creating a terrible website seems to be a common goal on the internet. I’ve seen it accomplished many times, so I thought I’d make it easier for everyone and post the ultimate guide. From the time a visitor enters your site to the time they exit, there are plenty of effective techniques to annoy them. In this article, Alex identifies 28 points to remember during a website development and how to execute them properly.

3) 18 Great Reads that changed my life

It’s fairly easy to find a well written book or online article. But it’s not always easy to find one with genuine value that you connect with. That’s because, these days, books and online articles are a dime a dozen. There are literally thousands of them written on the same topic every year. So deciphering the ‘good’ from the ‘great’ can prove to be quite a challenge. But if you look hard enough, in the right places, you’ll find a few gems containing life-altering advice that can be immediately implemented and used as an instrument for self-improvement. In this article, Marc has compiled a list of books and online articles containing value so profound that each of them are literally life changing.

4) Dieter Rams : Ten Principles of Good Design

Back in the early 1980s, Dieter Rams was becoming increasingly concerned by the state of the world around him – “an impenetrable confusion of forms, colors and noises.” Aware that he was a significant contributor to that world, he asked himself an important question: is my design good design?

As good design cannot be measured in a finite way he set about expressing the ten most important principles for what he considered was good design. (Sometimes they are referred as the ‘Ten commandments’)

5) So you want to be a Logo Designer

In the last couple of years, there seems to be a major surge of fledgling logo designers making their way into the design community. What with so many logo inspiration sites popping up every week and some really wonderful logo design books out there, it’s hard to believe that this rather small, sub-culture of graphic design is becoming so popular.

Logo designing is not an easy occupation. It requires more than just design skills to create a logo that is memorable and stands the test of times. In this article, Leighton Hubbell shares some basic information on how to get started in this business and do it right.

6) Art and Design: What’s the Big Difference?

From time to time, you hear people refer to art and to design interchangeably, as if they were synonyms. Or they use the term “art” to add a bit of glory to design work. Most of the time this happens in casual conversation, but it does tend to confuse the two terms unnecessarily because, basically, they aren’t the same. What is the difference between art and design? Are they closely related just because they use a lot of the same techniques and appeal to the same aesthetic sense? Or are they essentially different?

7) How to Succeed like Apple

Everyone seems to think Apple is superhuman with a magical business crystal ball. When they launch a new product, it’s usually a true hit amongst consumers. If you look at Apple’s strategy it’s actually pretty simple and straight forward. The real key is Apple’s ability to stick to this simple strategy with unwavering dedication. Here is the key to succeed like Apple with your own startup.

8 ) What I hate about becoming a Designer

In this quite funny article, Jeremy Davis shares his experiences on what made him realize he is indeed a designer. Don’t worry, we all have this feeling too. This was quite an interesting read and I loved it. I’m sure you will too.

9) An in-Depth Guide to Working With Typography in Illustrator

Adobe Illustrator is a fantastic application for crafting typographical masterpieces. However, whether you’re creating a simple paragraph for a print ad or a complex typographical piece of art for a website, there are several tips and techniques you should know for how to manipulate type within the program.

In this article, you’ll find a brief overview of some of the basic commands you should familiarize yourself with as well as some must-know keyboard shortcuts and even a few obscure features that you may not even know exist.

10) What is Creativity and Innovation?

Creativity is the process of bringing something new into being…creativity requires passion and commitment. Out of the creative act is born symbols and myths. It brings to our awareness what was previously hidden and points to new life. The experience is one of heightened consciousness-ecstasy.

11) Everything you need to know about Steve Jobs

This website is Romain Moisescot’s personal website about Steve Jobs. It is not officially affiliated with Apple Inc., the Walt Disney Company, or Steven P. Jobs in any way. It is just the private website of an individual about his personal hero. Its sole aim is to provide detailed information and multimedia content about Steve Jobs and his work at Apple, NeXT, Pixar and Disney. It is just an awesome site and quite certainly a wonderful journey through Steve’s Life at Apple and beyond.

12) The Ins and Outs of Minimalist Design

No matter how many times we are left in awe by impressively intricate designs, there will always be something about simplicity that leaves us just as captured. In this article, Josh explains some of the key aspects of minimalism in web design and shows us some examples from designers who got it right.

13) Your beautiful Eyes

This has got to be the best photography showcase of the week. The human eyes are the window to the word. After seeing these immensely impressive photos, I had to share this among you. This was quite popular on Twitter, but I thought I’d share it anyway. So, embrace the beauty of photography.

Ok, guys… Those were some of the best I could gather among the plethora of articles that I tweeted. Keep your eyes out for more of such amazing articles and please let us know if this showcase benefitted you so that we can continue posting amazing links for weeks to come. Meanwhile, if you still aren’t following us on Twitter… I’d say this is the best chance :)

40 most enchanting examples of Staircase Photography

Richie — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 18:29:35 +0000

Since the medieval times, the construction of the stairways has evolved a lot. Developments in manufacturing and design have led to the introduction of different array of materials and building some of the most intriguing staircases.

Nowadays, stairs can be made out of steel, timber, concrete or a combination of materials. Today, we see a plethora of designs and ideas being implemented to build these structures. It adds a lot of value to the aesthetic and architectural aspects of an edifice.

Lines, patterns, symmetry and interesting shapes have long been used by photographers to produce intriguing compositions that draw your eye in. That’s what makes staircases such a great subject – they have them all in abundance. There are several perspectives used by photographers to bring out the true concepts and emotions in the staircases. A few of them are:

Leading the Eye

Staircases by their very nature lead us somewhere, so photographers use this to their advantage – They choose a viewpoint that hides the far end of the staircase, enticing the viewer to wonder where it could lead. This ‘mental exploration’ adds mystery and engages the viewer.

Leading lines are a great way to draw a viewer’s eye through a photographer’s scene. Banisters and handrails are particularly useful for this, so positioning correctly to create an interesting path through the photo is quite important. EXAMPLE

Using natural curves

When photographing curving staircases, showing off their sweeping lines is the best way to bring out the dynamic feel in these stairs. A wide angle lens is perfect for exaggerating the contours of a twisting staircase. Also, placing the main focal point off-centre helps to give a photo more balance. EXAMPLE

Showing off symmetry

Many staircases are constructed in a way that gives them an obvious symmetry. Photograpgers exploit this by positioning themselves right in the middle of the line of symmetry and arranging their composition so that the symmetry becomes the main point of interest in the photo.

A symmetrical staircase is often best photographed by moving back as far as you can and zooming in, or even using a telephoto lens. This flattens any distortion caused by perspective, making the symmetry even more prominent. EXAMPLE

Finding an unusual angle

We are used to seeing staircases from eye-level – we do so all day long. A photo taken from this level will seem too familiar to be interesting to us. Instead, experiment with different shooting angles and positions, for example:

try shooting your staircase from high above or from near ground level : EXAMPLE
turn the camera to an interesting angle
use your camera to peer through the gaps between the steps

There a lot more ways to capture the beauty of staircases in photography. It needs a lot of experimentation and the right use of lighting and exposure too.

{source : amateur snapper}

In this article, I have showcased some of the most beautiful examples of staircases. A much needed appreciation goes for the photographers who captured the scene with the right emotion and at the right moment. Although these stairs are spiral by appearance, they aren’t actually spiral in a literal sense. The term “spiral” is used incorrectly for a staircase from a mathematical viewpoint, as a mathematical spiral lies in a single plane and moves towards or away from a central point. A spiral staircase by the mathematical definition therefore would be of little use as it would afford no change in elevation. The correct mathematical term for these staircases would be “helical”.

1) The Expedition yushimoto_02 by christian

2) Wings of rise by Sven Fennema

3) Phare des Baleines by Guido Franssens

4) Abandoned Castle by Herbert Wannhoff

5) Staircase concrete by holger droste

6) Up, up, up we go by Claudia Rückert

7) The Spiral via reinkarnacja

8 ) Spiral by Spaghettitrain

9) Circle of belief by Serban Mestecaneanu

10) Caracole by Giulio Ercolani

11) Into the Light I by KPK

12) The Abyss by reinkarnacja

13) Stairway by carol60

14) Rush Hour by sensorfleck

15) Spiral II. by Jure Kravanja

16) Into the Light II by KPK

17) Palladio’s dream by AndreJa

18) Up, to the light by Jan Gravekamp

19) sixth step by Suryo Tutuko

20) With drive by Takami

21) Twirl by Laszlo

22) Round and Round by Scott Crouse

23) Infinity? by Peter Carlsen

24) Lighthouse Blues by Martin C

25) Helix vertigo by Inés Montenegro

26) Staircase by Luisa

27) Spiral staircase by Frank Mahler

28) Stairs toward wonderland by Vincent Montibus

29) Vortex by Nico Surace

30) Inside Capitol Hill by Kevin Ng

31) Carpe Diem by FrankBa

32) Staircase by Stefan

33) Blue staircase by caostwalker

34) Art Deco Oval staircase by Nick Garrod

35) MCA’s goldfish staircase by jrfphotography

36) Art nouveau staircase by dappers

37) Museum staircase 02 by Mike Ancient

38) Rookery Building Spiraling Staircase by Mister Joe

39) Staircase by Mark henderson

40) DNA? – By Liber

Sources and Further Inspiration:

1) Flickr Staircase Photostream

2) Staircase on Wikipedia

3) A little more info on Stairs – BBC

4) The most terrifying spiral staircases on Earth

5) 101 Dizzying Spiral Staircases & Twisted Architectural Art Photos (nice article)

So, I hope you enjoyed the architectural wonders in those staircases and found the photographs impressive too. Have a good day!

Effective ways of improving your Search Engine Ranking

Maria — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 11:38:50 +0000

It has been quite some time on this blog that we talked about effective blogging strategies, so I figured that you guys may need a small diversion from the regular set of articles that get published on this blog. In this article, Maria from wix.com explains how to effectively build your search engine ranking by adopting the Open Directory Project.

Boosting your online presence can make a big difference to your site traffic volume. This can increase sales and/or improve your standing amongst your competitors or contemporaries. So how can you get this boost? Well there numerous available methods to improve search rankings and traffic. A primary one is keyword optimization for search engines.

Effective Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

The starting point for anyone who is looking for a better ranking on the major search engines like Google and Yahoo is to make a website optimized in terms of keywords. In other words, that the words that people use to find sites like yours are listed high on the list when a search is made.

There are several ways to go about this, you can visit each search engine and manually enter your details. This is tedious, amateur and not recommended for those without considerable time to spare and it is not very cost effective either. Alternatively there is software available at a very reasonable cost such as All-in-One Submission, which for $70 will submit your details to thousands of sites; this is a fairly quick and uncomplicated method and works well. You can also pay someone to do all this for you; there are plenty of sites that will offer to do that and this approach works, but shop around because prices vary, and they are probably just using the same software you can buy at a fraction of the cost.

Get yourself listed on The Open Directory Project

Most search engines are supplied with information automatically by “spiders”. This is a type of software so-called because it traverses the web like a real-life spider, visiting every connection between the threads of its web. At each connection is a website and the search engines build up a map of every page out there in cyberspace. This clever software then reports back like a handy scout; there’s not just one scout either, there are billions of them. They all bring some details about the websites they visited back to the search engines. These then process this information and make a software-driven decision on whose site is the best for any particular search term. Humans only get involved pretty much by keeping the electricity on in the computer rooms at Google.

The Open Directory Project (ODP) is a non-profit making facility where human volunteers spend their whole time visiting websites and sifting through the spam and dross to find the sites that contain useful and real information, products and services; much like a human operated quality control service. They do not rank a Sales Letter very high at all, no matter how relevant the product to the keywords in the content. The ODP are looking for quality websites so products of dubious value and origin will not be listed. The tip here is to make sure you have a nice looking site with good content. Upgrade your tired old website and get a new look that is modern with up-to-date features. You can even get a free website update at sites like Wix and Weebly.

These can make you look so much more appealing to the human auditor from the ODP, and encourages them to give you a high quality rating, which will subsequently transfer through into a higher ranking on their list.

This may sound a bit like someone just re-wrote the yellow pages, and in a way they did; the big difference is that Google ranks these pages very highly indeed. Because there is human intervention, the sites they list on their directory (there are now tens of millions of listings) are worthy of a visit. Google knows this and gives you a high rank accordingly. These keywords are collected from the directory initially to find you and then from your site directly afterwards. Your site will be cached (copied) and stored at Google, which will identify your site map and spider more search terms that they might want to rank you with. Your site is now ranked well, and ranked accurately too.

So here’s the thing; if your site has the wrong keywords, even if the ODP lists you, it will not perform anywhere near in terms of traffic potential via the search engines, without the right keywords. So get your content written to include them. There are plenty of freelance writers who specialize in this type of writing at sites like oDesk and Elance. Shop around there too as there is a wide range of skills and prices available.

You may be wondering “why just worry about Google?” The other search engines both large and small spider Google too, so for a high rank in Google, a high rank can be expected elsewhere. Make no mistake about the power of proper keyword placement and SEO – it can increase your traffic and income tenfold.

Interview with Master Doodle/Dark Artist – Shaun

Richie — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 21:44:36 +0000

Regardless of any advancement in technology, pen and paper will always be the number once choice for any budding artist or illustrator. It is with these pencil sketches that we create great designs. So, what exactly makes a doodle so fascinating even though it is claimed to be one of the most unproductive ways of spending time. Today, we have one of the finest and undoubtedly, the most unique work of art I’ve ever come across in my past year or so as an artist.

There are two types of artists in this world, Geniuses and Magicians. Geniuses create extraordinary work of art but give you space and time to realize that even you could do such stuff if you work hard enough. And then there are Magicians, and you have no idea how they do it! Shaun is a magician.

Popularly know by his nickname, Biomech44, browsing through Shaun’s DeviantArt profile is like a trip to paradise. Shaun is an artist, more appropriately, a doodle artist who lives in Sydney, Australia. Not only are his doodles remarkable, but they are so complex to comprehend that he uses hundreds of words to describe the story behind every doodle. I am honored to have met Shaun and talked to him about his works. Each of his doodles are a treat to your eyes as they awaken the inner spirits in you and I’m sure they will blow your minds away just as they did to mine.

What is a doodle?

A doodle is a type of sketch, an unfocused drawing made while a person’s attention is otherwise occupied elsewhere. Doodles are simple drawings that can have concrete representational meaning or may just be abstract shapes. Stereotypical examples of doodling are found in school notebooks, often in the margins, drawn by students daydreaming or losing interest during class. Other common examples of doodling are produced during long telephone conversations if a pen and paper are available.
Popular kinds of doodles include cartoon versions of teachers or companions in a school, famous TV or comic characters, invented fictional beings, landscapes, geometric shapes, textures, banners with legends, and animations made by drawing a scene sequence in various pages of a book or notebook. (via wikipedia)

Now, what if we take doodling and the very foundation of art, mythology and dreams and put them together. The result is simply sublime. In this interview, Shaun talks about his art, his sources of inspiration and how he develops his stunning masterpieces. So, without further ado, let us begin!

1) First of all we would like to thank you for taking the time to inspire us with this interview. Could you tell us where you’re from and what made you become an artist?

My pleasure Richie, and thank you. I’m from Sydney, Australia and I’ve drawn in one style or another since I was a little kid. My love of cartoons and comics then would be my inspiration to pick up a pencil or pen and haven’t looked back since.

2) I haven’t seen such amazing artwork anywhere in my life before, except something similar on sculptures. How do you define this type of art?

It’s a style that was born out of doodling at work, just creating crazy space stations etc., and necessity. A few DA artists have used the term collage and I think it’s the closest description. With the exception of works like Enigma which are one monolithic character or being made of many. Most of my pieces are a representation of the story, characters, events, the world and it’s environment; Symbolism used to relate topics raised and questions asked, to reflect character personalities, and to create the atmosphere or mood of the piece and the events and world within. The necessity part is that it is the best way to tell stories visually for me as I’m not the fastest artist in the world and it would take me forever to create in a comic book or graphic novel format. Not being lazy, lol just realistic and I actually enjoy this style more than a comic format.

3) Your art work is quite stunning and highly unique. Where do you seek inspiration from? How do you come up with the ideas?

Thank you so much that means a lot to me. I’m inspired by various sources and mediums. I find inspiration in different religions, from ancient cultures and their beliefs and mythology and also from day to day life; something heard or discussed; something randomly seen. Art, movies, games, books and music are of course all great inspirations. Even just a simple word like “dreams” for example, can and has led to me creating stories and visuals.

4) How do you go about creating your artworks? What is the design procedure you follow?

There’s no real procedure to be honest. I just start usually with a main character and then branch out from there. If you were to see the evolution of one of my pieces you’d see a bit here and a bit there and then gradually see it all come together as one piece. It’s like a puzzle really. I also have tendencies like most artists do to come up with new ideas as working on a piece so the bit here bit there method is great as it allows me most of the time to incorporate new ideas. It also helps with the storyline as well as sometimes a visual idea will inspire new characters or scenarios for the storyline which isn’t final until it is written after the drawing is complete.

5) What advice would you give to others who would like to follow your path as an artist?

I’m a self-taught artist and I learnt from those artists that inspired me. I still do from artists of varied styles and mediums. The best advice I can personally give is to have and keep an open mind. Don’t limit yourself to books ” How to..” or otherwise, or courses that teach anything other than how to use certain technology or equipment. Learn from them what you need but don’t take them as dogma. Besides certain tools or programs and their usage there is no “right way” or “wrong way” in art. Don’t limit yourself, learn and find inspiration from all styles of art and don’t let anyone say “you can’t do that or that is wrong” even if something is genre related. Break the stereotypes, push the envelopes, and be true to yourself and way of expression. It’s how genres grow; it’s how we have the greats from history and the artists that inspire us today.

6) Throughout your experience as an artist, what is the most important lesson that you have learnt? Why do you find it so important? And how do you apply it now in your art?

Pretty much the same as above, in that, there are no rules in art. It’s my personal mantra really. It’s the same for my writing and creating of stories and characters. Don’t be swayed by the negativity or sometimes jealous comments of others or even their expectations ( by that I mean if you’ve had a couple of pieces of work that have similar styles and themes which people really liked don’t think that you have to continually keep those elements or that style for people to continue to like your work.) The bottom line really is that we create first and foremost for ourselves and if people like it great if they don’t, that’s OK too. When creating, I do what I enjoy and don’t limit myself in any way. I try not to worry about what made one piece popular and another not or let doubt set in as to whether I can capture again what others enjoyed so much. I don’t draw or continue a piece if I’m not inspired as it just won’t work and leads only to frustration. I don’t limit myself to the confines of one genre but take everything I enjoy and mix it all up in the hopes of creating an interesting and fun ride for readers and viewers alike.

7) Could you tell us a few of your favorite websites/book/artists that you always look for inspiration?

Deviant Art is the main site I look at art now unless I’m searching for particular artists. IGN.com is also a great site for gaming concept art and trailers as well as movie art and trailers. Artist that have and still inspire me in various ways are H.R.Giger, Luis Royo,Brom, Simon Bisley, Bernie Wrightson, Jack Kirby, Masanume Shirow, Jim Lee, Liam Sharp just to name a few. In films director Ridley Scott is an amazing visualist and has made some of the most beautiful films I’ve ever seen. Special effects and make-up artist Rob Bottin created creature effects for John Carpenters The Thing which had and still does a great effect on me and my art as much as Giger’s work on Alien. Clive Barker as a writer/ artist/ director also has an amazing imagination and vision that is inspiring. Tattoo shows also are a great source of inspiration.

8 ) Once again, thank you very much for the interview. As a final word, do you have any tips for upcoming artists and designers?

It’s been a pleasure thank you. Just to explore all styles and keep an open mind as it’s amazing what you can learn and ultimately accomplish. Believe in yourself, keep pushing your limits and challenge yourself, and most importantly no matter what anyone says there are no rules in Art only the limits of your imagination.

Be sure to visit his awesome DA profile to check out his works – Biomech44

More inspiration from Biomech44!

1) The Herald

2) Insanity + Paradise

3) The Navigator

4) Sketchbook Concept Series

I hope you are equally as awed by his works as I am. Make sure you check out more of his works and apply his words of wisdom in what you do! Good Luck!

50 Stunning Photos to Capture your Imagination

Richie — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 16:56:13 +0000

Photography is a very powerful medium and a very difficult one to master too. Excellent photos not only show the beauty of photography, but they tell stories, awake feelings and manage to share with the audience the emotions a photographer experienced while shooting the picture. Taking excellent pictures is extrememly difficult as you need to find the right perspective and get a perfect timing. To achieve brilliant photography you need practice and patience. However, it is worth it: the results can be truly stunning and can spark your imagination every time you look at it.

Below you’ll find 50 brilliant photos — some pictures tell stories, some are incredibly beautiful, some are funny and some are very sad. Black and white photography also evokes inspiration and emotion in a drastically brilliant manner.

I recommend you to visit the profiles of the photographers and take a deeper look around the gallery. You are sure to find more of such amazing photography!

1) Man on fire by Shlomi Nissim

2) Alone by Sugeng Sutanto

3) Unknown Destination by digipix76

4) Between Light And Nowhere by Martin Stranka

5) Wind Power by Micro-Chip

6) Fun by Monica

7) Feeling blue 3 by Ben Goossens

8 ) Pop-up poppies by kamenf

9) Maple on fire by Francois Casanova

10) Bubbles by Luigi Benedetti

11) Mind the Gap by jbfotodesign

12) The Journey by Micha Rainer Pali

13) Stairs toward wonderland by Vincent Montibus

14) Lichter by Cristina Nika

15) Tunnel by Lukje

16) Abstract Wave by David Orias

17) Crop Drop Luigi Benedetti

18) Eye by Wieteke de Kogel

19) Hank of Light by Abílio Silveira

20) Warp Luigi Benedetti

21) Pandoras box by Viktor Baikovski

22) Curved Stairway by Luka Gorjup

23) O by Mihai Ragea

24) Waterworld… by Ulrike Morlock

25) Impossible time by Thoum

26) Water, oil and blue ink. by lucianc

27) Speed of light by csutka

28) Icarus Flight by Colmar Wocke

29) Cool Drink on a Hot Day by Mark Cox

30) Shape by Dragan Mihajlovic

31) Le masque de reverie by gerard sexton

32) Kk experiences by Jonathan Hedrén

33) Color Anomaly by Chromasia

34) Abstract Love by Kei

35) Lab Cows by jojo

36) fishnets curves… by Christopher Stanczyk

37) Madonna by Ursula I Abresch

38) Cross by Alexandre Buisse

39) L’altra metà by fulvia menghi

40) The seventies are back in business by Anders Å

41) Starry Night by Dan Ransom

42) Curves by Tineke Visscher

43) Half a heart turned upside down by Cile Bailey

44) Curves by Daniel Swann

45) Church light by Jacob Jovelou

46) Waves by Lars Johansson / Quicksound

47) Sharp by Tracy Martin

48) Metallic look by Carola Onkamo

49) Bespoken by Brandon P. Turner

50) Northern Light by Mdavies

Benefits of Blogging and WordPress Hosting

Jonas Bates — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 12:57:54 +0000

Blogging has really grown from being a popular teen pastime to a corporate requirement. The list of the companies dabbling in enterprise blogs is growing and it is expected to reach a huge number in a couple of years as the gap between semantic web and user-interactivity is getting smaller.

What started as a personal online publishing system which allowed individuals to quickly and simply write, publish and distribute their own opinions via the internet has grown to unparalleled proportions which allows businesses to grow and corporate deals to be made. People have effectively utilized the social media and helped it grow into something that is incorporated into the very fabric of our lives.

We’ve experienced the evolution of the social media in the last decade, and we cannot help but ponder over the fact that blogging has completely revolutionized the way we interact with people, thus helping us build a community, sharing thoughts and ideas. Blogging brings communication to a whole new level on the internet. Blogging is so popular these days that millions of people are talking to one another through their blogs right this very moment and in a few years, virtually everyone on this planet will be blogging, whether it’s about their personal life, to share interests and hobbies or about their businesses, to enhance communication and culture in a corporation. In fact we are seeing such a transformation right now. Blogging is a fantastic platform by which marketers are able to reach out to millions of potential buyers on the internet. Blogging also brings branding and public relations to a new level. But how can one effectively use the power of blogging to help change the world!

Jonas Bates, a web enthusiast who works for Webhostgear has written a wonderful article on why you should use the blogging platform to blog about your business and how you can benefit from it.

Blogging and WordPress Hosting

Does your business have a blog? If not, it may be the only one left that doesn’t. Blogging is a key part of any Internet marketing strategy, and many companies are benefiting tremendously from a combination of blogging and WordPress hosting that keeps fresh content associated with your business and directs traffic back to your primary website.

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How to Make Blogging and WordPress Hosting Work for Your Business

The Internet is all about fresh content. As the saying goes “content is king.” To get people to your website, you need something new. To bring them back, you need to keep people talking. A blog can serve both of these purposes. Even if your main site needs to stay static by necessity (because you have a lot of offers, for example), your blog can always be changing, and can be a great source of link building too. Don’t shortchange the power of the blog.

But What About the WordPress Hosting? Where Does That Come In?

WordPress hosting is simply the easiest and most effective platform for blogging. A WordPress blog with a WordPress host is easy to set up, easy to use, and easy to optimize. You can have a WordPress blog hosted on a non-WordPress server, but why would you? WordPress hosts are already set up with the right operating system, the right programming language, the right everything for a functional, efficient, eye-catching WordPress blog. There are already plenty of great WordPress features to choose from, and since WordPress is an open source application, new ones are popping up all the time. WordPress is compatible with any web hosting.

Benefiting from Blogging and WordPress Hosting

Once you have your WordPress blog set up with your WordPress host, use it! Don’t let all that functionality go to waste. Make sure you’re posting every day, or at least a few times a week. If necessary, get some of your employees to contribute. As soon as people realize you’re not updating that blog regularly, they’ll stop coming back, and that can cost you big.