Link About It: This Week’s Picks
Remembering Dick Clark, Vernacular Typography, Pulitzer Prize Photos and more in our weekly web roundup
1. Aquadom
The world’s largest cylindrical aquarium is one of many amenities at the Radisson Blu Hotel in Berlin, where 260,000 gallons of water house 1,500 fish. Scuba diving in the Aquadom isn’t an option for hotel guests, although there are plenty of vantage points to marvel at the engineering feat.
2. Dick Clark on “This is Your Life”
In a vintage recording of “This is Your Life”, we are reminded of Dick Clark’s truly fascinating life and prolific career. Recorded when Clark was still a young man, the episode sheds light on his accomplishments prior to becoming a New Year’s Eve institution.
3. Sand Casting
Using very basic tools, furniture maker Max Lamb carves out a hexagonal mold in the sand and fills it with molten pewter to create a metal stool. The primitive process brilliantly champions the foundations of furniture design.
4. Richard Hammond’s 10 Best American Cars
Top Gear host Richard Hammond reveals his picks for the finest automobiles found stateside in an interview for GQ. A few of Hammond’s favorites include the 1953 Chevrolet Corvette, 1969 Dodge Charger, pick up trucks and the AMC Pacer.
5. Wheelchair-Friendly Kitchen
The Skyline Lab Kitchen is designed entirely around the needs of wheelchair users, marrying sharp stainless lines with thoughtful ease of use. Low sinks, an absence of cabinets and curvilinear countertops are among the design elements making it easier to maneuver the kitchen.
6. Ron Mueck
Ron Mueck masterfully toys with scale, and until you see his awkwardly massive human figure sculptures in person, it’s hard to fully comprehend just how beautifully creepy they are. The former puppet maker’s newly opened show is on view at London’s Hauser & Wirth gallery through 26 May 2012.
7. Crying Robot
A promotional piece for the upcoming film Prometheus offers a peek at the futuristic vision of director Ridley Scott. The movie trailer is presented as a commercial for a fictional corporation, and features heartthrob Michael Fassbender as an android performing human tasks, proving the robot’s ability to mimic our actions and emotions—if not only at the surface level.
8. Vernacular Typography
With cursive on its way out, in the digitally-obsessed future lettering may end up a single standard format. In an effort to protect and celebrate the beauty of regional signage, Molly Woodward created Vernacular Typography—a crowd-sourced, community-based program aimed at preserving vanishing typefaces around the world.
9. Pulitzer Prize Photography
This year’s arts and journalism awards saw a first-time win for a new media outlet and the omission of a Fiction winner for the first time in 35 years, as well as two war-related images in the Breaking News and Feature Photography categories. For the former, the committee recognized Massoud Hossaini for his “heartbreaking” depiction of a young girl screaming in the wake of a suicide bombing that killed 70 people in Kabul. Craig F. Walker of the Denver Post took home the Feature Photography award for his “compassionate chronicle of an honorably discharged veteran, home from Iraq and struggling with a severe case of post-traumatic stress.”
10. UX vs. UI in Cereal
Graphic designer and illustrator Ed Lea offers up some nourishment for UED geeks out there, pitting the differences between UX and UI in a photo infographic built with cereal. While the rundown is certainly clever, the philosophical analysis found in the comments section may be just as entertaining.
11. Companion Bike Seat
After its popular run as a doubled-up bike taxi service at SXSW in March, the Companion Bike Seat is ready to put its attachable second seat on the market. Grab your friends and support this Kickstarter project—you can promise to take each other for a spin once it’s funded.
12. Big In Japan
Stylist Dan May dresses eight of Tokyo’s most fashionable men for Mr. Porter‘s recent photo spread, highlighting the brilliance of Japanese designers. Photographer Angelo Pennetta’s subjects include Beams creative director Hiroshi Kubo, director of Huge Magazine Toro Ukon, and Takuro Ogasawara—fashion journalist for Senken newspaper.
