Today I stumbled across this video and couldn’t believe how well filmed it was (make me wanna pull my bike out of the garage and pump up the tires). I had a mission companion while serving in Taiwan who seriously loved riding his bike, and I imagine this is how he rides now-a-days.

The other day I stubbled upon this book illustrated by Sanjay Patel. It’s fantastic. The Ramayana is full or drama, romance, action, bears and monkeys, gods and goddess, demons… I honestly couldn’t put the book down after I opened it; I had to read the story and look at the great illustrations that depict this epic tale.

Sanjay is a great illustrator and if the book isn’t proof enough that he is he also works at Pixar. Great talent.

I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone who doesn’t LOVE Zooey Deschanel (my friend was on set with her for the filming of a PSA a couple months back and said she was just so beautiful in person… way better than in the movies). And we all know she can sing thanks to her little christmas caroling in Elf, but Susan had me get her latest album that just came out yesterday. It’s a pretty good listen. It has a very vintage sound to it (I would guess like 40s or 50s). It lacks a little in sound quality (that’s kind of a throw back to older recordings), but the lyrics and tunes are fantastic.

If the video above doesn’t have you rushing over to iTunes to buy the album then we can’t be friends anymore. Ok just joking.

Unfortunately we aren’t buying this beauty (I wish). The other day after my haircut I thought I’d drive down Jefferson Ave. (a street in Ogden that has some incredibly hugh old homes and in the past few years undergone some major rehabilitation), and couldn’t believe my eyes. There have been numerous houses on this street over the years that I’ve entertained the idea of buying with the cost ranging from $225,000 for a dump to $698,000 for the house that’s actually just to the south of this one (it’s fully restored and anywhere else in the US would be double to triple that).

Last night I took Susan and the kids on a drive by after dinner to see it (Susan made me take the above photos). But there are major reasons I wouldn’t want to live on Jefferson and thus why this house is not going to be ours. One, it’s in a ghetto, and I mean ghetto. Prostitution, drugs, crime, is all within walking distance (granted we only live 10 or less blocks away right now from this house). Jefferson Ave itself is really beautiful and there are now only 2-3 house on the street that look as bad as this one; everything else is restored to it’s former beauty. I’m sure as time passes other parts of the neighborhood will improve, but how do you get over the fact that right now it’s scary and you fear for you family’s safety? Dang it. I’ve always wanted to live in a victorian beast. This house probably has more rooms and space than we have need or would ever have need for. I was joking with Susan that we could all have our own bedrooms plus our own offices. I really do wish I was braver. I’ll probably never get a chance to buy a victorian restoration project for the price of dirt again.

When ever the boys over at Hoefler & Frere-Jones create a new typeface I want nothing more than to go and drop a few bones to add the beautiful little characters to my font library. But alas I realize I just don’t have that kind of cash. Dang it.

I’ve been very absent from my blog the past couple of months, and yet I have much news I need to post and update everyone (like leaving my freelance life and working for a large design firm machine).

Japanese photographer Shinichi Maruyama, now living in New York, has created some stunning images. It’s almost like he’s created traditional Japanese/ Chinese calligraphy only instead of on paper they’re in mid air. The photo of how he creates some of the images is just as amazing as the works themselves. I wouldn’t mind owning one of his prints. Really amazing.

I think just about every guy has a thing for a mustang once in his life. Mine happened after that show with Nicolas Cage and Angie Pit (Gone in 60 Secs), but it lasted only for a fleeting moment. Well the team over at FirstBorn Multimedia have come up with a pretty amazing site to help sell the 2010 Ford Mustang.

One of the nice things about the site is the size. As people’s computer screens get bigger and wider it’s a tough call as a web designer—how do you create a website that looks good on a laptop and also on a 24 inch screen? Most websites today are built at 960 pixels wide, and even though the Mustang site is the same width it feels much bigger than that thanks to it’s large graphics and the great use of background images.

Did I also mention the site’s a 100% Flash? You can checkout the site yourself by clicking here.

I’ve never been a fan of Rockband (I prefer to play the real guitar), and when it comes to video games I’m more of a “shoot ‘em up” save the world from aliens type of gamer. Nonetheless I thought this promo video for the new Beatles edition of Rockband was pretty great (and who doesn’t love the Beatles). I really liked the mixture of 2D animation with the 3D layered depth. It’s very anime meets the Gorillaz.

Long story short a while back I was outside in our yard and started to dream up a plan to build a backyard office space, and since then have been searching for a perfect solution. When I saw this one I thought it was pretty close. I love the sunken space and with the glass bulb top it’s pretty futuristic. I could totally see myself walking out back to work every morning, and in winter it’d be pretty sweet covered in snow (snow cave).

Found the photos here: iwan.com.

If you love typography you’ll be pleased to see this site. Created by the person behind the siteILoveTypography.com. ILoveTypography has always been a good site to hit for great type specimens. This new site looks like another great place for inspiration, but you won’t have to wait a week or more for someone to blog. I personally like the tagline “Think of it as FFFFound for all things type, typography, lettering, & signage”. If you’ve ever been to the site FFFFound you know occasionally you get photos that are too graphic or irrelevant.

The people behind theFWA (website dedicated to showcasing the newest and best flash websites) have now brought us a new site to showcase photography. Like “one website” a day the FWA photo is “one photo a day”. The website is very well done, and whether you like photography or not it’s worth taking a look just for the site.

Yesterday I stumbled across this site for GE Ecomagination. Beyond being a beautiful site though the interactive video/ hologram is unbelievable. It’s one of those things as a web designer that just blows through the glass ceiling, and opens up a completely new approach. A dozen ideas are swimming in my head now. Take a break and go check out the site. I didn’t print out the paper but rather put the image on my iPhone. Here’s the link to the site and here’s the link to the photo to work the hologram (on your portable device).

Viewing art or design is one thing, but to listen to the actual artist talk about their work is always better. That’s one thing I miss about being at University (guess lectures) but fortunately there’s TV right?! Tonight I watched a BBC program that showcased Industrial Designer Marc Newson.

I’ve seen a bit of Newson’s work around before but it was great to put it all together. He has a lot of sculptural design pieces that don’t necessarily look comfy to sit on but they definitely look interesting to try out. And at the same time he has a lot of things he’s designed that show a level of thought and understanding of the design problem/ solution that you just don’t see in most products.

One of the projects Newson talks about is a concept car he did for Ford motor company. It made me wonder if Ford would be in the financial trouble they are today if they had used even some of Newson’s designs. It also made me wish car companies would spend more time and money on their interiors. Recently I had the pleasure of driving my dad’s Audi A6 while he was away, and as wonderful a car as it is the whole dash is an absolute nightmare. From button placement to how to navigate the radio. What a nightmare. Audi tried to take 2 steps forward but I think it’s closer to 6 steps back. I hate to sound like a design prick but who has audi hired to do their interiors?

Anyway, that’s probably a whole other post. They should hire Marc Newson or someone who can understand the simple design solutions that would make driving less an effort and more comfortable (Audi if you read this I’m available for Hire). To watch the BBC Marc Newson episode you can catch it on youtube by clicking here.

Susan surprised me this morning with a lovely letterpress Valentine Card. She knows me pretty well. It’s designed and printed by Dutch Door Press, and I thought it so lovely that it deserved a post.

From the guy who brought you the move about Helvetica comes a new movie about industrial design.

Seeing this trailer makes me rethink my decision to become a Graphic Designer. Maybe it goes back to the days of building with legos or maybe my love for building with wood. As much as I love Graphic design I can’t help but dream about designing chairs, watches, or even a car. I’m sure I could single handedly design the American auto industry out of their woes—Well, at least it’d be fun to try.

And you thought Lensecrafters 1 hour eyeglasses service was fast. How about skipping the eye exam all together. These glasses work by adjust the amount of water there is between the lenses.

I think they’re very handsome and wouldn’t mind a pair myself. Here’s a link to the article.

I know the molded Eames Chairs are no longer made out of fiberglass but this video is pretty interesting nonetheless. Showing design to shipping of those iconic Eames chairs. I really want to get my hands on one, two, or a whole dinner tables worth. Santa…

While eating my wheat chex this morning I stumbled across this story and great photos of Venice under water in a 22 year historical flood. The guy wake boarding across the plaza is really quite amazing. I’m trying to figure out what’s pulling him? A car?

Anyway, it got me thinking back to when I was a kid and Utah flooded. Our rather large front yard and circle drive were under several feet of water so my brother and I tried a similar stunt behind our 3 Wheeler ATV, and with our homemade skimboard. It wasn’t quite as cool as wakeboard in Venice though (I’m glad he was wearing a helmet).

I’ve always wanted a Herman Miller Aeron chair, but as of right now my sights have changed. This Embody chair looks to be better and let’s face it the Aeron is 15–16 years old. It’s either this or else I’ve thought about getting one of my parents old High winged back chairs they use to have in their formal living room. Now that’d help me feel more captainish.

I’ve bombed some big hills in my day as a longboarder, but nothing like these guys. Watching this made my feet tingle like when you stand at the edge of something really high.

The video starts out kind of slow. I just fast forwarded to the part where they start rolling down hill.

“In order to make being cut-off from the virtual world more bearable, we created our own local internet, out of files that were on our harddrives, and some argue it was actually better than the real thing. Make up your own mind, because as a tribute to the week we had, hi-res.net is being replaced with The Internet (2008).”

I don’t know how long this will be up, but it really made me smile.