Last night, Darth Vader came down from planet Vulcan and told me that if I didn't write this blog post he'd melt my brain. That's about as funny as a screen door on a battleship, but what in the name of Sir Isaac H. Newton has happened here? Why don't we make like a tree and get out of here to find out?
It's nearly 2015 and whilst this may not interest you in any way, it certainly has interested the innovators at Nike who have Hill Valley, California, at 4:29 pm, on Wednesday, October 21st, 2015 very much in mind with their incredibly cool teaser announcement I spotted this week. It's trainers, you know - for roads n tha'. Readers, where we're going we won't need. Roads...
At 49th Floor we like to feel part of the creative community as a whole and therefore from time to time will give something back to our fellow graphic designers, artworkers, retouchers, photographers, illustrators and whatnot. We have compiled this flow-chart to demonstrate the path to inspiration - and whilst it's not an easy path to tread, I feel that it's one that at least in part will be familiar to many.
Fortunately in my experience anyway, the path of least resistance is not the route to the greatest success and a little bit of desperation can open your mind to it's creative potential. The PDF which is far more legible and high res enough to adorn any studio wall is avaiable freely below;
Procrastination leads to inspiration via desperation flow chart PDF download
We will soon be posting up the guest blog by international design sensation and co-founder of the Pilates Pod, the one, the only - Mr. Ed Smith. He discusses that the original inspiration behind his decision to get into graphics and design in the first place was due to a love of album artwork.
I think this is a notion that most professional designers can certainly associate with and throughout the endless self-written (what was the point?) briefs that university made me complete, more often than not I'd try to link it back to music somehow. I suppose this could have something to do with the age of my student self at the time, but I'm a romantic and I like to think that there's a massive link between the creative arts and music resulting in a harmonious meeting of the visual and the audible - typified by the album cover.
It appears Rolling Stone have compiled a de-facto list of the top 100 album covers of all time. The list is below and you can see it in situ at the following location: http://rateyourmusic.com/list/fedderedder/rolling_stones_100_greatest_album_covers
Much like their list of the top 100 albums of all time, I disagree almost across the board and whilst I can see they have done their research and have taken into account things like the historical implications and quality of musician - it is fundamentally flawed; there is no metal. Everyone knows the best album covers of all time are from Metal, it's just a fact (Zeppelin aren't proper metal and they're only in at number 50 anyway) and I think it's due to the inherently over-the-top and dramatic nature of the scene. Now, don't get me wrong - I'm not knocking the covers or artists they have listed - I just think there's a whole lot better in terms of pure artistry and awesomenitude (I cannot believe spell check has let that one through).
So to redress the balance here's a list of the top five metal album covers, in my opinion, of all time.
We have been busily beavering away to up our exposure on Facebook and whilst it's been going well and we are grateful for the support we have had already, we need more people to hit the 'Like' button!
To boost this we are now repaying 'Likes' with 'Love' and what this means is that when you click 'Like' not only are you able to keep in touch with our banter, latest work and comments, but you also you gain access to our Latest Facebook Offers Tab which lists our latest offers, discounts and also will have exciting competitions and giveaways!
Whilst it's not a pre-requisite for designers to like apples (although I hear tell of them keeping the doctor away) it is pretty much a given that they all love Apple. Their stuff looks nicer, runs for longer and is just much more desirable in general despite costing loadsANDloadsANDloads. I love my magic mouse in particular and I can't imagine ever wanting to use anything else to manipulate my pointer (sorry Michelle) - it's perfection.
I loved being a design student. From the lack of money, unwashed clothes, terrible accommodation and ability to smoke like a chimney and drink like a fish whilst simultaneously exploring new heights of creativity and interest - it was fab. Whilst you carry on learning new techniques and skills throughout your career - the opportunity to do this whilst watching Quincy, Diagnosis Murder, 2 generic cooking shows, 1 generic DIY shows and squeezing in at least 2 hours of solid Fifa '98 'Road to World Cup' evaporates as quickly as your final loan cheque. You graduate and then with a brutal inevitability you need a job - and what better place to start than, er, actually where do you start?
