Dear Pantone® Santa… December 4, 2009
Posted by Olivia McDowell in Art, Design, Etcetera, Pantone, Pretty!, The Ether.Tags: Pantone, NotCot, Christmas, shopping, Nail polish, Eyeshadow, cashmere, Concept design
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I want this.
And maybe some matching eyeshadow:
Pantone® nail polish and eyeshadow (concepts) by Renata Veiga { via NOTCOT }.
And while you’re at it, how about a nice Pantone® cashmere sweater, in 2695C?
In fact, if I continue to be relatively well-behaved, would you see to it that your elves put into production every Pantone® concept product developed over the past decade or so?
[PS. I'm still waiting on that mug, lego, and Pannetone®* I asked for last year].
* What is it about Christmas that brings the Pantone® concepts out of the woodwork?
Screen vs. Paper ~ Bookworm vs. Social butterfly November 30, 2009
Posted by Olivia McDowell in Blogging, Etcetera, Pretty!, Technobabble, The Ether, Words.Tags: books, Hitchhiker's Guide, Holidays, Nerdgasm, New Scientist, Reading, Scientifica American, Study
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{ Evelin Kasikov, via FFFFOUND! }
Now that I have broken free from the manacles of full-time study (and settled into full-time desk work, for the nonce) I am readily able to indulge my desire to read Readables Of My Own Ready Choosing. No more Textbooks Which I Cannot Afford To Purchase and Do Not Wish To Read Anyway. And, hopefully — depending on my willpower — more printed matter, fewer blogs. I want to touch what I read (and not just on the eyePhone* screen).
Exhibit A:
Hyde Park.
Eoin Colfer (who is NOT Douglas Adams, but is trying VERY hard).
2 minutes later, a ladybird landed on me.
Then I had a nap.
Exhibit B:
Dotingly aware of my studious predicament, (LECTURES! THESIS! ASSESSMENTS! EXAMS!) Father saved a 3-month cache of my favourite nerd magazines.
I took delivery last week.
Nerdgasm.
Now, if only I could find the time to sit and read! [Not looking likely]
Maybe the outside world could stop being so remarkably interesting? [No thanks].
Oh, my library for a quantum life! Or alternatively, it may be time to start reading as a social activity. A bookworm with wings? Sounds nice.
* Secret tweeter’s tip: Never tweet about “iPhone” lest you suffer an instant inundation of DMing, @-replying macspambots. Choose an appropriate pseudonym, and tweet away.
Large Hadron Collider now actually colliding protons! November 24, 2009
Posted by Olivia McDowell in Etcetera, Pretty!, Technobabble, The News, Words.Tags: Acronym, CERN, Higgs Boson, Language, Large Hadron Collider, LHC, Neologism
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LARGE HADRON COLLIDER PRODUCES FIRST PROTON COLLISIONS IN BIG BANG MISSION
I can’t explain why, but this news makes me extraordinarily excited, proud, humble, thrilled, wonderstruck, optimistic… [insert further relevant emotions here].
Our Universe is a miraculous event.
Won’t it be fun to try and find out just what makes it so?
{ image from Boston Big Picture [I strongly recommend you click-thru for yet another must-see LHC collection]. This particular portrait features a “Compact Muon Solenoid”, a particle detector much like ALICE and ATLAS. I love lyrical jargon and acronyms the meanings of which fly stratospherically — nay, sub-orbitally — far above my head. }
DEFINITELY RELATED:
LHC too cool/broken for its own good; helium-based hilarity ensues
Chess Letters, Book Letters, [Bachelor of] Legal Letters. November 9, 2009
Posted by Olivia McDowell in Blogging, Design, Etcetera, School, Typography.Tags: Bookshelves, Chess, Exams, Law School, Letters, Stress, Study, University
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No time to blog.
Too busy studying.
Would rather be playing
{ Type Chess Set by Wary Meyers via The Jailbreak }
Or maybe choosing a Book That I Actually Want To Read, from
{ Letters Bookshelf by Pieter de Leeuw via Design Milk }
Instead, there are only four letters on my mind right now:
B. LLB.*
*…Okay, technically it’s B. Comms/LLB. But in the final 5 days of 5 years’ study — having secured the “Comms” bit last semester, and now with only 2 exams to go — those 2 Ls and Bs are my only (very significant) academic concern right now.**
** If I had more free time I’d throw something in here about blubbing, study lbs, and curious palindromes. But I haven’t, so I shan’t.
Sweet (Caramel) Typeface; Sweet (Almost) Freedom October 26, 2009
Posted by Olivia McDowell in Art, Blogging, Design, Pretty!, School, Typography.Tags: caramel, dezeen, Font, sugar, thesis, Typeface, Typography, University
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…
I have finished my honours thesis.
And after an amuse bouche of post-thesis antithetical freedom, now all that stands between me and the end of 18 years of study (at this end, 5 years of University: 2 undergraduate degrees) is… 19 days, 3 assessments, 2 exams, and a whole lot of study.
Until then, I’ll satisfy my sweet tooth with this delectable caramel typeface.
{ Karamel Sans CE by Marta Maštálková, via dezeen }
OH how I adore caramel.
But I would still give all the toffee* in the world for the impending freedom flitting sweetly on the near horizon.
*Even coffee as well. Seriously.
Through The Looking Glass: Where Coffee = Sleep October 10, 2009
Posted by Olivia McDowell in Blogging, Etcetera, Laughing, Words.Tags: Alice in Wonderland, Caffeine, Coffee, Douglas Adams, Macchiato, Sleep, Starbucks
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Comparing coffee preferences to sleeping habits is probably the most ironic analogy ever made. But outside the asylum, through the looking glass, only the nonsensical truly makes sense. And so, I propose the following theory:
If coffee = sleep, then…
A) A macchiato (a shot of espresso with a mere dash of foam) is the coffee equivalent of “a short but intense nap between 12:30am and 6:30am, as popularised by yogis, yoginis, truck drivers and insomniacs”.
B) A Starbucks Venti Mocha Frappuccino (20 ounces of cream, caffeine & chocolate) is the “persistent vegetative state” of the coffee world.
Somewhere in between lies CATATONIA, which is what happens when you have an incurable weakness for both A) and B) (as regards both the coffee and the sleep).
“Patients with catatonia may experience an extreme loss of motor skills or even constant hyperactive motor activity. Catatonic patients will sometimes hold rigid poses for hours and will ignore any external stimuli. Patients with catatonic excitement can die of exhaustion if not treated. Patients may also show stereotyped, repetitive movements.
They may show specific types of movement such as waxy flexibility, in which they maintain positions after being placed in them by someone else, or gegenhalten (lit. “counterhold”), in which they resist movement in proportion to the force applied by the examiner. They may repeat meaningless phrases or speak only to repeat what the examiner says….
Catatonic excitement is a state of constant purposeless agitation and excitation. Individuals in this state are extremely hyperactive, although the activity seems to lack purpose.
…The only way to cure it is to keep the patient constantly active and the activities must have an end goal or they will not work. Stress must be reduced by not pressurising, keeping life predictable and by limiting choice as making choices is very stressful for catatonics.”
— Wikipedia (of course)
And on that note, I REALLY have to get back to writing this thesis. 13 days and counting…
{images via smh.com.au and wikimedia commons }
Elvis + Helvetica? Hellsvetica yes! October 4, 2009
Posted by Olivia McDowell in Blogging, Cinema, Earworms, Etcetera, FFFFOUND!, Helvetica, Pretty!, The Ether, Typography, Videorama.Tags: Elvis, FFFFOUND!, Helvetica, Helvistica, Music, Rockabilly, Typography, youtube
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Firstly: Elvis + Helvetica = brilliant.
{by Hulk4598 on flickr, via FFFFOUND!}
This girl approves.
Now, for a bit of waffle. (Err… waffle).
Note Exhibit A, above. Young Elvis* all dolled up for the film Roustabout, in too-neat leathers with too-tidy hair . Movie tagline: “Elvis Presley as a Roving, Restless, Reckless, ROUSTABOUT”. [Insert sceptical looks here].
But also note Exhibit B:
{also by Hulk4598 on flickr, via FFFFOUND!}
Young Elvis in a rather naff suit, with an acoustic guitar that he never really played much, and a messed-up coiff that looks like he’s just come off stage after this:
(Skip to 1:00 and press play. Watch to the end. DO IT. Honestly. Just trust me on this, okay? You won’t regret it.)
Now isn’t it ironic that despite the extra “L” in Exhibit A ["Hell for leather[s]“, anyone?] Elvis was actually at the peak of his corrupting deviance not as a “Roving, Restless, Reckless, ROUSTABOUT”, but as a cheeky, messy-haired rockabilly boy?
Clearly, the 1950s were hella good for the Rebellious Youth, in music and typography.
*[as opposed to Old Elvis: let's just not go there, okay?]
PS. Much as I appreciate the sentiment, I’m not such a fan of Helvekitty.
PPS. Whatever happened to Elvis movies on Sunday afternoon TV? Oh well, at least we’ve still got:
Spot the Dustpocalypse: Life on Mars/Earth September 26, 2009
Posted by Olivia McDowell in Art, Cinema, Earworms, Etcetera, Pretty!, The News, Videorama.Tags: David Bowie, Dust, Dust Storm, Dustpocalypse, Earth, Life on Mars, Mars, Meteorology, Sydney, Total Recall, Weather
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Spot the difference:
{ Sunrise on Mars, via NASA }
{ View from my ferry (7.20am, Saturday 24.09.09), Circular Quay, Sydney, Earth }
Sydney saw the Dustpocalypse twice this week: two epic dust storms sweeping eastward from the inland deserts. The first on Wednesday morning, came with full-force opaque orange skies, visibility nil, and undertones of other-worldly terror.
Tom Coates’ Red Dust photo gallery says it best:
{ I adore the deathly reflection }
The second — this fine Saturday morning — resulted in a greyer shade of haze, and that uncannily Martian ice-blue sunrise.
Both eventually cleared to reveal clearer-than-clear bright Springtime afternoons.
Now how on Earth (or Mars) can anyone who lives on this planet honestly say that the weather is just a topic for idle small talk?
Playing in my Head
Movies: Total Recall
{ via giflix }
Music: Life on Mars, David Bowie.
Plastique Fantastique: Typographically accessorised September 22, 2009
Posted by Olivia McDowell in Art, Design, FFFFOUND!, Helvetica, Pretty!, Typography.Tags: CMYK, etsy, Helvetica, jewellery, Kerning, necklaces, Plastique, retail, rings, shopping
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THIS. This is what awesome looks like through the eyes of a typophile.
Laser-cut acrylic necklaces…
…and rings
for the ultimate in beautiful, witty, typographical (okay, nerd) accessories.
Okay, uber nerd:
All from Plastique’s etsy store.
Now hurry along with credit cards a-flashing, dear fontgeeks. Stocks are limited, and I need someone to buy them out before I surrender to temptation.
Venn Redux September 14, 2009
Posted by Olivia McDowell in Art, Blogging, Design, Etcetera, FFFFOUND!, Laughing, Pantone, Pretty!, Technobabble, The Ether.Tags: Art, Behance, Cake, CMYK, Cool, Design, FFFFOUND!, Narwhal, Nerd, Pantone, Unicorn, Venn diagram, Whale shark
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Okay, remember when the internet started leaking a steady supply of hilariously reworked periodic tables and I developed a tiny obsession (then revisited it) despite a distinct lack of real scientific knowledge?
Well, it’s happened again, this time with Venn diagrams. Usually, I try to avoid anything remotely mathematical (unless of course it’s Craig Damrauer’s New Math).
But there are Venn diagrams, and then there are Venn diagrams. These are the latter:
{ Douglas Adams loved giant, spotty, placid whale sharks, and so do I. via Behance }
{ I love both unicorns and narwhals, and this is genius. My original favourite, by ArgyleWhale via horkulated }
{ I’m also a fan of colour standards, so CMYcake is my new favourite, via FFFFOUND! }
There’s also something rather nice about memes that are gradually exuded throughout the ether like this. As opposed to those high GI memes that burn twice as bright but half as long, before hitting maximum saturation and maximum irritation at almost precisely the same moment (see also: Rickrolling, Squirrel Crashes, and — as much as I hate to say it — Play Him Off, Keyboard Cat).
PS. For a permanent source of often puerile, seldom unfunny, and not at all mathematical diagrams and graphs, you might like to bookmark GraphJam:
…but only if you can afford to fritter away vast swathes of time on a regular basis)
PPS. This one is conclusively prescient:
{ Enough said! via BuzzFeed }
