'Before I die' street art

Such a simple concept (ok, the best ones always are) and with a lovely outcome. Artists Candy Chang made a wall on a disused building in New Orleans into a giant blackboard, stencilled onto it "Before I die I want to ..." and left plenty of chalk.

The response was overwhelming; often thought-provoking, sometimes touching, sometimes silly, but a real outlet for emotion.

Full story here via WebUrbanist

Slow mo from high speed digital video

Digital video cameras are getting better and better which leads to imaginative people having more and more fun. This is a fine example - high speed video means you can do amazing slow motion, and this guy had amazing fun doing just that one night in his hotel bedroom:


Locked in a Vegas Hotel Room with a Phantom Flex from Tom Guilmette on Vimeo.

Knit your own Royal Wedding

As a keen knitter I loved the idea (and the irony) of knitting your own Royal Wedding although I could anticipate how fiddly it would be and how much patience it would require. I did buy the book and my daughter knitted a bright pink corgi which it took me ages to sew together, then we ran out of energy!
via The Guardian
Book on Amazon

Jaume Plensa at YSP

I am very lucky to live not too far from Yorkshire Sculpture Park, which always provides a very pleasurable day out. It combines three things I love good art, good food and a good walk! I am quite excited to see a new exhibition featuring the work of Jaume Plensa has just opened and I can't wait to visit. A taster of a few images from the YSP web site:

Full details here.

Sustainability: walk the walk

A beautiful little video... not only that but it is a great message. Truly inspirational and only just over a minute long too!

Dress made from children's books

This beautiful ball gown is made by designer / artist Ryan Novelline from lots of children's 'Golden Books'. The skirt is made from illustrations from the books sewn together with metallic thread and the bodice is made from the books spines.

What is especially interesting is that he recorded his process with a fascinating series of photographs. Here's just a few...

There are lots more on his web site here.

Virtual shoe museum

The virtual shoe museum is an amazing resource of images of shoe designs ... and designs that really push the boundaries of what a shoe could be. They are all neatly categorised so you can bring up lots of images under different headings. Here are a couple of my favourites...

Julian Hakes: Mojito shoe

Polly Verity: Wire shoes

Paul Schietekat: High tide heels

A brief history of film title design

This is a beautifully-made short video showing the history of film title design. Not only that but there are some classic films there that I really must watch again!

Full list of the films mentioned on Vimeo here. Via BoingBoing.

Wild tables

I love the concept and animation of these, though I don't think I like the final look of them somehow ...

"It should come as little surprise that the designer of this sequence, Toot Chen, is not just a furniture maker, but also a stop-motion animator and graphic artist. His other works share a similarly sly and humorous approach to everyday household subject matter."
via DorNob

Warning signs

I think smart materials are going to be a fascinating growth area over the next few years and look forwards to seeing what innovative designers will do with them. Here is an interesting project:

"Warning Signs is a visualization of the pollution that exists invisibly all around us. When the wearable senses carbon monoxide, the piece subtly changes color and pattern to indicate higher levels of carbon monoxide in the atmosphere to the wearer and those around him or her. This piece was designed and created by Nien Lam and Sue Ngo."

Web site with full details of the project here via Blogless