David Pidgeon "Geometry of Type" talk

I was fortunate to attend David's presentation "The Geometry of Type" on Monday (December 7, 2009) at the Australian Museum. Looking at David's work, I got many ideas for future projects about how to take an idea and simplify it to its essence. How to use simple shapes, lines and colour to communicate deep and complex concepts.

Event Summary
Keen to see the alphabet from a different angle? David Pidgeon, from Design By Pidgeon in Melbourne, looks at restricting the roman alphabet to strict geometries in an attempt to explore form, legibility, visual perception, dimension, points of view, perspective, colour, animation and modularity.

His passion for design excellence can be witnessed in the evolution of his work in the last decade. The son of a mathematician and of Italian/Anglo Saxon descent, David has embarked on a journey in design that is influenced by the way he sees the world. He pursues diversity in clients and output, which in turn employs a curious mix of playful yet intelligent; precise yet intuitive output.

His experiments in typographic form are a process that he has pursued since being a student and one of the creative threads that draws his work together.

David is a member of the Alliance Graphique Internationale (AGI) and has recently returned from speaking at the ICOGRADA World Design Congress in Beijing.
(source: AGDA's event listing)

David Pidgeon's typography work





http://pidgeon.com.au/

La Linea: so little says so much

Brilliant work of Osvaldo Cavandoli

Animation techniques collection

This is a collection of various animated clips that employ creative and imaginative animation techniques. This post is used for reference, and to be visited often when looking for animation techniques and ideas. It's a living list that is updated as new bits are discovered.

Christopher Walken Tooth Fairy
Observe the gestures...



Fonejacker
Only the mouth is moving, and the main idea is the play on words. Using words and quick imagery to illustrate the word, while it doesn't even necessarily fit the context.





Terry Gilliams
Obscene and surreal collaging, unexpected and clever dialog aided with animation that is basic and crude, but that's the beauty of it.







Alice by Jan Svankmajer
Incredibly effective and wicked mix of mediums and techniques. Live footage, stop motion and tricky photography.







Legos
The White Stripes music video

March: Inspirations & Observations

Welcome to the March issue of Inspirations & Observations. This is my monthly reflection on the 5 things this month that inspired me, and 5 things that were cheesy, ineffective or just plain boring.

Inspirations

1. Hand-rendering with pen & ink. Oooh, we did an assignment of rendering fur texture with pen & ink, and it was the most calming activity. Can't post the result yet though, the teacher still has it. But here is a sample from a Flickr user hanssolo.
   
   
   
2. Paper craft. I am discovering a whole world of these crafty designy things I can get into. I already love making things by hand, so it's perfect! Here is my current idol, Yulia Brodskaya.
   
   
   
3. And this month I discovered scrapbooking. I've heard the term before, but I didn't know what it was. Check out Shappy Pricess, really great "digital scrapbook" kits.
   
   
   
4. "The Artist's Way" book by Julia Cameron. It's about awaking the artist within, getting in touch with our innate creativity. I feel the changes happening already.
   
   
   
5. "How to Get Ideas" book by Jack Foster. First part of the book describes the mindset we need to have to attract more ideas. Second part is a step-by-step manual for getting winning ideas. It's interesting that "The Artist's Way" and "How to Get Ideas" frequently give the same advice. It's all connected, describing the same reality from different angles.
   
   
   

Observations

1. Using "click here and here and..." as anchor link text. It would be a lot more useful, if the link stated exactly what I'll find after clicking it. For example "learn about the psychological deviations of underwater worms." Ok, now I know exactly what's behind the anchor-text door.
   
   
   
2. Redesign of Hotmail interface leaves me asking "Where is the send button?!!!"
   
   
   
3. Sydney rail tickets, made of paper. First, I can only buy a ticket for today, it expires at the end of the day. Second, it's a paper ticket that cannot be re-used. Third, I have to put it through machine and wait for it to come out. Fourth, I can only buy one ticket at a time, no buddy rides. Need I go on? Really slows down the morning rush-hour commute.
   
   
   
4. Mini Dell ad. Trying to look like the currently popular floral style, but doesn't make it.
   
   
   
5. All respect to SitePoint, but no discrimination here. This ad was part of the newsletter I received, and I think it's feels like it was actually made by a developer. Literal metaphors for "slow" and "fast"...where is the zesty idea?
   
   

Previous months

• February: Observations & Inspirations
• January: the Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Playing with type

Better way to learn your ABCs, cute and fun too!








And this one is an interesting play on negative space.

Contemporary Design Presentation

What is meant by Contemporary Design?

Instead of drilling boring lectures into the heads of the students, Edwina Riddell has found a creative and effective solution to deliveing the information. She assigned a particular design era to a group of 2 - 3 students, and thus transferred the engagement of the topic to the students.

I find this to be a a brilliant idea! The students get Public Speaking experience, they perform their own research, and in the end student presentations are usually listened to more attentively, than teachers, due to a feeling of solidarity.

Each student group presented on the chosen design era during the class (one group per week). Afterwards, Edwina filled in any of her extra knowledge and provided comments.

For our presentation, Gina and I selected Contemporary Design, an exciting and relevant period of design, which is still affecting our choices today.

Click the image below to view the PDF of our presentation:


Semester 1: Intro to Studio Practice, taught by Edwina Riddell