Link About It: This Week’s Picks
Santa’s fashion makeover, creepy jiggly GIFs, Bond’s new set of wheels and more in our weekly look at the web
1. Aaron Draplin’s Logo Tutorial
Aaron Draplin—owner of Draplin Design Co and creative mind behind the popular Field Notes memo books—documents his design process in a tutorial showing just how much calculation goes into creating the simplest of logos. Throughout the video, Draplin discusses what it takes to create a great logo in 2014 and offers insights into his ideas and techniques, all while moving fluidly from one iteration to the next, never missing a beat.
2. Wallpaper Mag’s Design Awards 2015
Wallpaper Magazine recently released their judges’ shortlist for their annual design awards. Categories span restaurants to private homes, hotels and fashion, so the publication called upon a variety of influential judges like Benoit Jacob of BMW i, performance artist Marina Abramovic and landscape designer Piet Oudolf to make the final selections. Check back in January to find out who took home the top spots.
3. Jiggly GIFs
Sam Lyon’s Jelly Gummies GIFs are wiggling, wobbling wonders. The Scottish artist’s kooky digital creations resemble something between sea cucumbers, party balloons and pink jello. Each face crease and crevice ripples with such a realistic weight that the animated blobs seem to almost pop out of your screen. The GIFs range from a bouncy banana to a rubbery rainbow chicken shape, and while some might be a bit creepy, they’re definitely worth a look.
4. Instant Translation With Skype
Skype recently released a new program that can instantly translate a conversation between an English and a Spanish speaker in real time. The “Skype Translator” breaks new ground in communication technology as it proposes a future reality where people can communicate with each other no matter what language they’re speaking. The program is still in preview mode and will take continual use to work out any errors, but it is currently available to anyone with a Windows-enabled device.
5. Urban Foraging
Having not been grazed over by deer and other animals, city parks can actually offer a greater variety of edible plants than many parts of the wild. With the rising price of organic food, foraging in these urban environments has become attractive to those looking for something “more real” than the prepped and packaged produce found at supermarkets, and a plethora of educational resources and apps available means newbies looking to join the movement are finding it easier than ever to gather their greens.
6. Boeing Offers Used Parts
Boeing’s latest program is hoping to find new homes for decommissioned airplane parts. In a move to encourage reuse and recycling, the aerospace corporation is currently offering used airplane windows, cockpit panels and even jet-fighter gun sights in its “Custom Hangar” web shop. So far the program has been extremely successful, making it difficult for Boeing to keep parts in stock as artists, interior designers and aircraft experts all vie to purchase a piece of engineering history.
7. Fashion Santa
UK-based design studio Joint London has given old Saint Nick a high-fashion makeover in their “Designer Santa” Christmas cards. Instead of donning the traditional red and white, Santa jumps straight into 2014 street style by dressing in the latest looks from Alexander Wang, Kenzo, Hood By Air, Saint Laurent and more. The whole set of digital illustrations is available for download on the Designer Santa website, with the creators asking for a simple Twitter shout-out in return.
8. Bond’s New Wheels
Like the iconic Aston Martin DB5 Bond car of the Sean Connery era, the new DB10 is set to become the signature vehicle of Daniel Craig’s character. Taking cues from former models while still committing to modern appeal, the film-only DB10 features a lower shark-like grille and an overall darker appearance; much like the sentiment felt throughout the recent films. Lead designer Marek Reichman hints that the newest iteration will do something “you won’t expect” and will “focus on what James Bond’s hands are doing.” We’re guessing it speaks.
Link About It is our filtered look at the web, shared daily in Link and on Twitter, and rounded up every Saturday morning.
