Audio/Visual Break

Alvin Band, Temple Pressure

This video has been getting me through the work week, hopefully it can do the same for you. Really awesome vocal patterns and harmonies combined with a creative video make for a good lunch break treat.

This is one of the many works of my former teacher, John Langdon. He invented the ambigram, and has gained notoriety with his work for Dan Brown's Angels and Demons. I payed him a visit last Saturday up at his mountain home in upstate PA. His house is like a private museum, filled with his work, inspiration, mid-century style furniture, and one of a kind works from other artists and designers. I got a first hand look and his newest paintings and ambigrams, his amazing wood block type collection, and sketches of his first ambigrams that dated back to 1968. With no formal education in design, John's education has developed through his constant observation of his surroundings, and it is apparent in his work. Using common phrases, well-known logos, and clever juxtaposition of words, John's paintings are a harmonious combination of simplicity and smarts. A show of his paintings is in the works at Pure Gold gallery in Northern Liberties in Philly. Check out John's website for a full scope of his work.

(click to enlarge)

Since healthcare is in the spotlight right now, I decided to make this B2(19.68" x 27.83") poster to raise awareness. It's important to keep an open mind when it comes to fixing the system. The United States is not always the best, and we must recognize that fact before we ever expect to make a change for the better.

Iram the Wonderer

So we're finally making some headway on our friend Eric's zine. It's been talked about a lot and now we're excited to finally start tossing some ideas around in terms of packaging and design. Here's the description from Eric's email:

"The zine will be "Iram the Wonderer" follows a creature from his virgin birth of a traveling gypsy, his travels with his mother (incognito on his mothers back as a bonzai tree), eating his mother (wearing her heart as a necklace for guidance for the remainder of the zine), psychadelic encounter- visions of god (a 3 headed owl crucified on a cactus), lonesome drunken campfire (the smoke will read, "welcome the stars with wine and guitars") each 2 page will have text intertwined with the illustrations... I have yet to think of anything for his death, but it will be something of mind rape magnitude.
-rickkkkyyybobbs"

Judging from that description alone, I'm sure that Eric will come up with some ridiculous illustrations. Check out some of his work below:




Also, check out his blog.

"I think I have a diease that makes my hearing imperfect, but at least I make some wonderful noise"

Some of the best things in life are hidden gems. Things that you don't realize at first but when you do, you're instantly hooked. Kind of like the time you realized that you enjoy the taste of beer, or when you figure out new shortcuts on your computer. These sort of gems happen to be my favorite things in life, and this song by the husband and wife duo of Avey Tare and Kria Brekkan has been a recent favorite of mine. In its original form, the songs from this Animal Collective side project were released all in reverse, some of which were sped up as well. While this might confuse some people (everyone), it really is no surprise coming from these two. They simply thought it sounded better that way (to each his own). Causing internet babble, some people pretty much wrote the album off as horrible. Pitchfork gave it a rating of 1 (yes, on a scale of 1-10), and many fans were upset at the release. But while most people didn't even bother to upload the album to their iTunes, some people decided to open it in an audio program and get to work on how its supposed to sound. When reversed back to its original form, this album is pretty much amazing and beautiful, the song "Sasong" in particular. Check out the two versions below.

Reversed and sped up x2. (With some cool animations actually):


The original version:


For those of you interested, I'm pretty sure the "fixed" version of this album is now available on iTunes.

Come check out some of my graphics work at this upcominig show in Philly.
www.placeyourarthere.com

Place Your Art Here - Opening Night Show
Friday, September 4th, 2009
7pm - 11pm

Place Your Art Here will feature 100 + entries from 50+ artists with a variety of backgrounds. There were endless possibilities, but each entry had to follow a specific set of guidelines and fit within an existing template.
All entries are black & white only and placed within a 5 x 7 vertical format.
Entries include: graphic design, illustration, typography, collage, photography, screen printing, finger painting, and everything in between . . .