Great new article for today about the size of Pterosaurs.
PTEROSAURS 10 TIMES HEAVIER THAN BIGGEST BIRDS
Makes sense when you think about increased oxygen levels and thicker atmospheric pressure.
Photo courtesy of Wikipedia, and Mark Witton and Darren Naish. Used under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license.
My friend Mary came across this absolutely amazing site the other day. We’ve been sharing it with everyone we can find. It is the Sistene Chapel in unadulterated 3-D 360 amazement.
It seems to be a fad in the whole 7 steps to greater health in the design world.
You won’t see me post any steps to the perfect logo, design or layout.
Here’s why:
1. Times change, but elements and principles of design do not. If you want to be around from fad to fad and style to style, always know the elements and principles of design. Don’t try to learn by copying tutorials only. Learn why Carvaggio, Michelangelo and Da Vinci were masters. Learn why everyone drools when they hear the name “Paul Rand.” There’s a central reason to their popularity and why they stood out.
2. Logos are subjective. The client can hate the best logo in the world, and love the worst. Designing a perfect layout may not suit the needs of the client. More times than not you will have to gradually ease the client into liking good design. And if you do that correctly, then they will love you and good design en tandem.
3. Layouts change with the wind. In the 60s, layouts were minimalist and subject to pop culture of the 60s. Today it’s he same, except now we’re going the route of deconstructionism. Either way, designers will not survive without ahderance to the Elements and Principles of Design.
You will see me post articles and awesome links and tutorials, but no one can give you the 10 steps to a perfect logo.
But I can give you the 1 step to sustainability in design: Learning the Elements and Principles of Design.
Break from the crowd and make a name! Cross the line of mediocrity and your designs and name will be known to the community! Don’t be afraid to push a little farther and harder than the rest. Who knows? You could be the next Paul Rand.
Some analogies to avoid:
1.Her vocabulary was as bad as, like, whatever.
2. The information imbedded on the stolen computer chip was like an explosive so explosive it could explode, creating a massive explosion.
3. Her parting words lingered heavily inside me like last night’s Taco Bell.
4. She walked into my office like a centipede with 98 missing legs.
5. A single drop of sweat slowly inched down Chad’s brow - a tiny, glistening Times Square New Year’s Eve Ball of desperation.
6.The little boat gently drifted across the pond exactly the way a bowling ball wouldn’t.
7. Her eyes were like two brown circles with big black dots in the center.
8. He was as tall as a six-foot-three-inch tree.
9. She grew on him like she was a colony of E. coli and he was room-temperature Canadian beef.
10. He was deeply in love. When she spoke, he thought he heard bells, as if she were a garbage truck backing up.
11. The young fighter had a hungry look, the kind you get from not eating for a while.
12. Her voice had that tense, grating quality, like a generation thermal paper fax machine that needed a band tightened.
13. It hurt the way your tongue hurts after you accidentally staple it to the wall.
14. Long separated by cruel fate, the star-crossed lovers raced across the grassy field toward each other like two freight trains, one having left Cleveland at 6:36 p.m. traveling at 55 mph, the other from Topeka at 4:19 p.m. at a speed of 35 mph.
15. John and Mary had never met. They were like two hummingbirds who had also never met.
16. The red brick wall was the color of a brick-red Crayola crayon.
17. The thunder was ominous sounding, much like the sound of a thin sheet of metal being shaken backstage during the storm scene in a play.
18. The politician was gone, but unnoticed, like the period after the Dr. on a Dr Pepper can.
19. She had a voice so husky it could have pulled a dogsled.
20. The situation had become topsy-turvy - like Christmas in the summer, if you’re in Australia.
21. His face looked like an ice sculpture. Not one of those pretty ones in the middle of a cruise ship buffet, but the kind they do in a contest with a chain saw - and it had been out in the heat too long.
I was looking through Wikipedia recently, randomly looking through histories of countries when I came across an entry about Illuminated Manuscripts.
In graphic design classes we had to study the manuscripts for their historical value, as they, along with the Carolignian type, were the first actual graphic design layouts (debatably).
The intricate detail was immense, and considering people spent their entire lives to creating these ‘illuminations’, it stands to reason that they’re among the most detailed and amazing works of art on the planet.
I think for the most part, the art of illustration has been looked down upon as being shuffled away with other ‘artistic endeavors’ in current western culture, whereas in the middle ages, art was considered a very spiritual exercise, and those who created it to be enlightened. Art itself was a spiritual and deeply emotional expression, and therefore schools who taught art were among the highest institutions academically.
Even in the eastern culture, art is not separate from everyday life, and many in current Eastern cultures consider it a deeply emotional or spiritual exercise.
Have we lost something in this modern age where artists are generally considered nuts?
What has happened that whenever sitcoms portray the ‘artistic aunt’ or relative that they automatically hug trees and talk to plants or try to commune with beavers?
It seems that somehow the aristocratic and socratic ideals have infiltrated into the original ideas of artistic expression. Have we replaced the emotional fluency of expression with rationalistic boxing-in of ideas?
Maybe we’re ready for a renaissance in the western culture, where art is no longer considered a secondary profession, nor is the worship of rationalistic method the only accepted way of thinking or expressing yourself.
In some ways, the rationalistic method has only produced more mediocrity than excellence.
Break out of the box! It’s the only way.
Perhaps the real enemy to any art profession, then, is mediocrity and reliance on reason as the sole method of expression.
The Japanese art movement called Ukiyo-e is a 200 year old phenomenon with astounding results and has had a massive influence on western art. Here are a few examples.
Okay, so finally got this thing going! This blog will feature rants, rave, historical ideas and observations with a few references to current and upcoming projects! Staaaayyy tuned!
