Adobe Ink & Slide – The future of creative sketching and drawing in Design and Art in Schools?
Adobe Ink & Slide
Tag Archives: art
Love Cars? Some of the Best Photos of Iconic Cars ever.
Love Cars? Some of the Best Photos of Iconic Cars ever.
I enjoy photos of cars – especially iconic cars in stunning locations. The skill of the photographer is paramount. Was it planned? Complete luck? Or was it simply the ability to make post editing changes that tweak the final image? As the writer of the blog says; “Love it or loathe it, the use of Photoshop or similar software in modern day pictures is now an integral part of our lives”.
Personally, I’m not averse to a bit of technology ‘tweaking’ to provide that extra bit of drama and flair. That said I also like the ‘old school’ approach with filters, lights and other subtle props.
Whatever your own opinion, art is always going to be subjective and down to personal taste. Hope you enjoy this link. I did.
Exquisite Custom Designed Motorcycles 2013
Exquisite Custom Designed Motorcycles 2013
Few machines are as ripe for customization as motorcycles. They’re pure mechanical simplicity. Two wheels, an engine, a transmission, some brakes and handlebars, and endless possibilities. Go to any motorcycle race and walk through the parking lot. You won’t find two bikes that are exactly alike. If dogs are a facsimile of their owners, motorcycles are their two-wheeled equivalent.
Nobody understands this better than Chris Hunter, author of a new book book: The Ride.
Chris was asked by ‘Wired’ to list the 10 best custom machines to come out in 2013, and this is what he came up with. Enjoy.
Porsche by Design
From the North Carolina Museum of Art:
October 12, 2013–January 20, 2014
Porsche by Design: Seducing Speed marks the North Carolina Museum of Art’s first design exhibition, exploring the history and development of the Porsche lineage from the 1930s to the present day.
Featuring more than 20 automobiles, Porsche by Design presents cars owned by Ralph Lauren, Steve McQueen, and Janis Joplin, as well as the one-of-a-kind ‘Panamericana’ concept car on loan from the Porsche Museum in Stuttgart, Germany.
Car lovers will appreciate the rarity and engineering genius of the automobiles on view. Art lovers will be intrigued by Porsche design and the connections that can be drawn with other works of art. All will gain a deep appreciation for hallmarks of the Porsche marque: beauty, artistry, technology, and innovation.
SteamPunk Design – What is it exactly?
Firstly I must say that I absolutely love this genre of design. As a way of inspiring and influencing students to think creatively with their design work it is brilliant. They have to:
- Explore design and product history fully to understand
- Make creative decisions about the mix of aesthetics and technology
- Look carefully at the amalgam of materials and manufacturing methods
- Be aware of the need for combining form and function in their work
- Provides for some really cool sketch, concept and graphics work
What more do you need?
I first became aware of SteamPunk as a consequence of watching some very entertaining (in my opinion) films – ‘Mad Max’, ‘The League of Extraordinary Gentleman‘, ‘The Wild, Wild West‘ and the ‘Fifth Element’ to name a few.
But what is SteamPunk exactly?
The genre seems to have originated during the 1980s and includes key design elements and influence from the areas of sci-fi, fantasy and history. My design students have taken a lot of influence from the genre, and have used that influence successfully in their A-Level design work, but trying to hang a summative phrase to sum up the movement is not easy.
Having trawled ‘t’interweb’ and looked in some books the best single phrase that sums up SteamPunk design for me is this:
‘What the 21st century thinks that the Victorians thought the 21st century would be like’
There is no doubt that the opportunity to design products that embrace this genre facilitates that ‘creative juice’ flow. Kids get it; they run with it and, to a certain extent, are not constrained over and above the historical context.
The opportunity to explore an eclectic range of traditional materials in their work (copper, brass, steel, wood….but remember NO plastics other than to create models that represent the genre 😉 ) means any manufacturing work that you do supports the theory with regard to design and making, using tools, machines and processes to fabricate their idea. Guys and girls are all motivated (jewellery, transport, fashion, tech products…) can all be tackled.
If you are looking for a starting point to kick off a project then SteamPunk is a massively fun and creative way forward.
No links to key sites on this blog entry – Google is your friend. Go and have a look.
You’ll be inspired.
Ever Hanker after Something?
Hanker. A verb. ‘Feel a strong desire to do something’.
Synonyms: yearn – crave – long – hunger – aspire – desire – covet
Have you ever ‘hankered’ after anything? If so, what?
I was gathering some pins together for my Pinterest boards and fell upon an iconic automotive design that I have adored since I first set eyes on it back in the day when watching a film with my dad. It was a car. The Ford Mustang Fastback from the film ‘Bullitt’ with Steve McQueen.
The car is iconic for so many reasons; the Ford Pony car ‘done good’, American ‘coke bottle’ design at its best (mimicked by car designs in Europe with the Cortina MK3, Escort MK1 and the Capri…); a car that satisfied the masses in America and around the globe – a genuine car for the people in all its coupe and notchback forms.
Sure it handled terribly, only went well in a straight line BUT boy, didn’t it look good?
With that V8 burble sound track (forget the asthmatic V6 version…) which made the hair on the back of your neck stand up when at full chat…The epitome of ‘cool’. Throw in the suave Steve McQueen and you had quite a mix. The film was not bad either.
Anyway. I hanker after one of these cars. I want one. I yearn for one. For me it’s like a 32 Deuce coupe, a Ferrari 412, a Nissan Skyline 240K, a Toyota 2000GT, a Riva speedboat, a Harley hard-tail. I just love the look and the style that goes with it. Retro Design at its best. Cool.
Sadly there is one catch. Money. Roll on the lottery…
Richard Seymour: How Beauty Feels (Video)
A story, a work of art, a face, a designed object — how do we tell that something is beautiful? And why does it matter so much to us? Designer Richard Seymour explores our response to beauty and the surprising power of objects that exhibit it.
Designer Richard Seymour works on products with soul — from a curvy, swoopy iron to a swift and sleek city motorcycle. Seymourpowell is regarded as one of the world’s leading product and innovation design consultancies, with clients who include Ford, Virgin Galactic, Tefal, Casio, Nokia, Guinness, Samsung and Unilever. Seymour is also consultant global creative director of design to Unilever’s Dove, Axe/Lynx and Vaseline brands.
Ardles - V2education 