Created by Bartholomäus Traubeck, Years is a record player that translates wood’s year rings into sound. This is probably one of the most creative things I’ve seen so far this year, and I’m amazed by how it works.
A tree’s year rings are analysed for their strength, thickness and rate of growth. This data serves as basis for a generative process that outputs piano music based on the year ring data. Those are analyzed for their thickness and growth rate and are then mapped to a scale which is again defined by the overall appeareance of the wood (ranging from dark to light and from strong texture to light texture). The foundation for the music is certainly found in the defined ruleset of programming and hardware setup, but the data acquired from every tree interprets this ruleset very differently.
Illustrator Thomas Slater has a very charming portfolio. I’m really feeling the loose lines and smooth overlapping colors, giving things a very traditional printed look. More work below the fold.
I’m really loving the work of New York based graphic designer Jennifer Lee. She’s currently employed at SVA Partners where she creates all kinds of fantastic things, including this piece for Peter Ross. More below the fold.
Today I came across this amazingly stunning photo of the Earth taken on January 4 by NASA’s recently launched Suomi NPP Earth-observing satellite. There’s defiantly no place like home.
I guess you would say I am an admirer of the night sky. I often stare at the stars and find that my mind tends to unwind and become free from all that surrounds me. I like to think it puts things in perspective, and I am incredibly happy just to be here.
The City Dark is a new documentary film that explores our relationship as humans with the stars, and what might happen if we loose that relationship. I like to think there’s an amateur astronomer in all of us– looking up at the sky and wondering.
Modern Pictograms is a typeface made for interface designers and programmers that can be used in mockups or that can be dropped in right on your web page. Created by John Caserta of The Design Office, the typeface is being offered for free! Get all the details here.
Design legend Herb Lubalin walks us through his process of his design for the PBS logo. It’s quite amazing to me to see how refined each solution is.
Today I came across the work of Daniel Olsson and Jonas Topooco and I was completely stopped in my tracks. I typically fly through things when I’m browsing the internet, but I was inclined to take a closer look. Their design studio Research & Development has been turning out some impressive work for years, and coming across it today was a complete breath of fresh air. It’s exciting to see more and more designers pushing the boundaries of traditional graphic design. More work below the fold.
I saw these really amazing drawings by Jorinde Voigt today. I’m not even sure what to make of them, they’re somewhere in between a topographic illustration and some kind of Nicolas Felton line graph. They just visually carry my eye all over the place, these are the types of things I can stare at for hours. More below the fold.
I’ve always been an admirer of the night sky, therefore I’ve never been too fond of city light pollution. However, photographer James Reeve decided to turn down the noise a bit resulting in some stunning images that give off a very organic profile. To see them in all their glory, check out the full set here.