Websites - The Cool Hunter

Th Cool Hunter is a useful site. There slogan is "Roaming the UK and the globe, so you dont have to
", and that's basically what they do, it's like a database of cool things from bars to fashion to travel back to design. If your looking for something fun and interesting. This is the place.

Architecture - Casa Son Vida - Mallorca, Spain

Casa Son Vida is located in the Balearic Islands off Spain, on the Island of Mallorca, where humans have lived since 6000–4000 BC and where more recently, tourists have over-crowded every beach. But Casa Son Vida avoids the touristy kitsch and aims much higher. It is in the exclusive Son Vida community, just 15 minutes from the capital of Palma. Casa Son Vida is in fact a reno of a 1960s Mediterranean villa, but it has been turned into an fantastic, sprawling luxury residence, designed to attract the young, discerning and bold, who are confident and design-savvy enough to know what they are looking at. An amzing piece of architecture where i plan on living one day. Maybe.

Advertising - The secret to Maddona's success

Haha. Funny, but also probably true (mixed with a bit of botox here and there). This is another great example of adverts that make you laugh, and for me that's the most important thing. Adverts that catch your eye, and have a humorous side to them. This obviously wasn't slapped on billboards across the country, but could be good to use in a portfolio, shows you have creativity and are going to be a laugh in and around the studio. If only this was a real product eh?

Advertisments - Dutch Football Federation 2010 FIFA World Cup T-shirt

Genius idea here, Seen as though my wife is Dutch I had to include something from the Netherlands, but I would of used this anyway. It's little smart ideas like these that are the most interesting to look at. They make you smile and think to yourself, "Aaaah, that's good that". This was the 2010 FIFA World Cup supporters t-shirt. Sadly, they didn't use them in the final.

Books - Hand job: A Catalog of Type

This book is so good. Written by Michael Perry, the book is a "curatorial celebration of the hand typography of my peers." He selected 50 designers whose typo works he likes, splashed their best creations all over the book, added a few words about them, took pictures of their studios and random snaps of types found around the world. A really nice book to look at, brightens up your day.

Movies - Catch Me If You Can title sequence

Catch me if you can is a good movie, with the likes of Tom Hanks and Leonardo DiCaprio starring. But what usually sets the mood for any film is the title sequence. You can have boring credits rolling across your screen, or you can have well made, eye catching sequences like the one from this movie created by Saul Bass. He has made other sequences like this in the past, such as 'The man with the golden arm'. Similar style, similar music and similar greatness over other title sequences. Its smart and humorous, and will also keep you watching until the end sequence starts.

Websites - ID

Identity Designed is a showcase and forum for those involved in the design of brand identities.
That's about it really,  but it has some really good identity design on there. Worth taking a look at. Some really creative and inspiring work.

Websites - CR

I've got to put Creative Review on here, because its such a useful and interesting site for all students. It's constantly updated with new stuff and it's going to be a useful tool in my final year of studying graphic design. Loads of inspiration on there too. Also has a handy blog where people studying to actual designers in the business are all ocmmenting on stuff and communicating. Great site!

Design - Portishead's "Third" album cover

Designed by Marc Bessant, I really like the Portishead album cover, basically because I love typography in design and that's all there really is in this., But as we know, "Less is more"..This interview i found with Marc, talking about the design, best describes the album cover in my opinion:

“after the ten year gap from the last record I knew the only visual which had stuck in the public eye had been the ‘P’ character, it was an established brand which I wanted to not only reintroduce but reinforce. We were keen to avoid anything ‘conceptual’, no puns or noir imagery, that was all dead to us, I wanted to present a box, which simply holds the music, with the least amount of information on it which would ultimately say everything – essential minimalism – which I felt captured the eastern block coldness of some of the music I was hearing in the studio.”

Design - Ty Lettau

Ty Lettau is the designer manager of Adobe. Here he has created a series of minimalist album covers. What I think appeals about these series is the fact they become a puzzle. Without looking at the title you try and guess the cover. With album covers being some of the most iconic design of our time it’s not wonder designers are fascinated by them. No other piece of design lasts this long or is as instantly recognisable as an album cover. Movie posters come close but only few films can say they have iconic posters.

 
These aren't used designs, Ty has just created them for fun...because he doesn't sleep. But they could be couldn't they??

Architecture - Burj Dubai

The Burj Dubai, is a skyscraper in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and the tallest man made structure ever built, at 828 m (2,717 ft). Construction began on 21 September 2004, with the exterior of the structure completed on 1 October 2009. The building officially opened on 4 January 2010, and is part of the new 2 km² (490-acre) flagship development called Downtown Dubai.
The tower's architecture and engineering were performed by Skidmore, owings and merrill of Chicago,. In June 2010, Burj Khalifa was the recipient of the 2010 Best Tall Building Middle East & Africa award.
The total cost for the project was about $1.5 billion; and for the entire "Downtown Dubai" development, US$20 billion. Yes, an insane amount of money, but you get what you pay for, and the burj Dubai is a simply awe inspiring piece of architecture