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FOTB 2011, Day 2

Tuesday, September 20th, 2011

David Rosser shares more of his experience at this year’s Flash on the Beach conference in Brighton. Stay tuned for his final post tomorrow, where he encourages us (via Joshua Davis) to build our careers on ideas, not tools. 

Seb Lee-Delisle – Pixels for People

It’s not every day you get to be part of an art installation.

Seb’s Day 2 session ‘Pixels for People’ turned the audience’s iPhones and Android devices into pixels. Using a combination of JavaScript websockets, openFrameworks and over 150 mobile devices, Seb created a synchronous light installation along with a game that challenged audience members to capture the Nyan Cat — the fastest click being the winner. Seb tried this again during the JAM session in the dome and successfully synchronised over 200 mobile devices.

David Lenaerts – Keeping it real

Away3D

David, being an Away3D core developer, was definitely on my Favorites list. As a fellow 3D enthusiast with a background in Maya and Flash, I was excited and intrigued to learn about advanced shading and rendering techniques. One of the key points he highlighted was using realtime physics calculations to counter software limitations. He argued that calculating realtime physics based simulations is expensive on the CPU, while the same effect(s) can be achieved by “faking it.” His presentation covered diffuse lighting, sub surface scattering and normal mapping techniques, which were followed by some jaw-dropping Away3D 4 demos. To read more about the topics David covered click here.

James Victore – Who died and made me boss?

James Victore

All I knew about james before seeing him speak was that he had the most impressive mustouche ever! James headed the Inspiration session on the second night. Apart from running his own business, James Victore Inc., he’s also a professor at the School of Visual Arts in New York City. Throughout James’s talk, he discussed various pieces of work from his new book – “Who Died and Made You Boss?”. His captivating and motivating session eventually had us all rocking out to Back in Black by AC/DC. A great end to a fantastic Day 2.

Images in this post are © of their respected owners.

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FOTB 2011, Day 1

Friday, September 16th, 2011

Digit’s Creative Technologist, David Rosser, attended Flash on the Beach in Brighton this past week. The conference brings together the best minds in design and development to share, educate and inspire, while providing opportunities for hands-on technical training and networking. Digit’s attended FOTB for three years running, a tradition we hope to keep up despite there being doubt about the conference’s future (see David’s blog for more on this).

Here are David’s thoughts on the sessions that really stood out this year, and the importance of good reference libraries.

FOTB Title Sequence

This year’s title sequence was created by Bradley G Munkowitz, aka GMUNK. I’d never seen any of Bradley’s work before, so to experience a beautiful, well-rehearsed live action dance piece was a treat. The piece’s narrative follows a creative soul as he searches for inspiration and fights his inner ghosts — something we’ll all come across at some point in our careers. Click here to learn more about the piece.

Bradley G Munkowitz – Tron GFX

Tron GFX - TRON-Solar-Sailor

One of the first sessions on Monday was GMUNK’s Tron GFX talk, based on the 12 minutes of holographic work he and his team produced for the film, Tron Legacy. Showing an imaculate array of concept and post-production work, the visuals stunned us all.  He also had plenty to say about the roots of inspiration. He couldn’t stress enough the importance of reference libraries throughout his presentation, which I thought was an interesting insight. It’s true; a good reference library will always provide you with a solid collection of inspirational material that can help you on current and future projects.

Click here to see more of the eye candy GMUNK and his team produced.

Jon Burgerman – A short talk about working and not working, and how to waste time efficiently

Jon Burgerman

The first Inspiration session was headed by Jon Burgerman. Jon’s work speaks louder than his personality, which (trust me) is incredibly loud! On a daily basis Jon spends his time drawing and illustrating colourful cartoons while singing about vegetarian food. He’s also in a band called Anxieteam.

Check the Digit blog next week for my thoughts on Day 2. They may or may not involve moustaches and my perspective on the power of Pixels for People.

Images in this post are © of their respected owners.

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The Raindance Saturday Film School

Monday, August 22nd, 2011

The ‘Raindance Saturday Film School’ is a fairly well-known, crash course in the film industry that promises “to explain the basics of screenwriting, directing and shooting a film – in one day.” No mean feat, yet hundreds sign up every week in confidence.

Having finally experienced it, the passion and years of industry knowledge from the speakers was indeed in abundance.  The most useful element being the chance to learn the ‘art of storytelling’: from story strategy to scene sequencing, to setting up and paying off scene patterns, to blending dialogue. It was all there.

By far the most animated talk was on ‘directing’ by British film industry veteran, Patrick Tucker. Prancing across the stage with various props and humour, he demonstrated the principles of directing and how to get actors and crew to actually DO what YOU want!  ‘Why is it that everyone wants to direct, yet few take the time to learn how’ he asked? Indeed, these days so many people consider themselves “Directors” with the introduction of video-enabled mobile phones and cost effective DSLRs, but so few will do it well enough to turn it into a career.

Throughout the day my film sat there at the back of my mind, music running through my head, along with some fragmented introductory scenes. How would it end? I wasn’t sure yet, but I now had the tools to work it out.

Will I go on to write my film? Definitely. Will I ever produce it? Who knows. But it doesn’t really matter. Unlike the millions of individuals who attempt to break into the film industry, I am not one of them. But instead one of those quietly curious creatives that will always pick up and put things down throughout my life. I wonder what will be next?

If you have an idea you want to turn into a film, find out how here.

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The art at the heart of WOMAD

Tuesday, August 16th, 2011

Womad is a free spirited, laid-back and unpretentious family affair held in Charlton Park, Wiltshire, which celebrates the ‘World Of Music, Art and Dance’; hence the name WOMAD. It is in no way a festival purely about music and/or dance. Art had a huge presence on site and made it a real delight to photograph. Everybody had a chance to be creative and get involved in artwork around the festival.

There were craft workshops all around the site: in the kids area there were activities encouraging children and parents to get involved creatively, there was the Roots Architecture Project where four stages were built over four days (with the help of festival goers) out of reclaimed materials from the park itself. Sculptures were also placed amongst the trees in the arboretum and seven sea containers showcasing Giving Soul- Film Animations by Six Leading Artists were on display. On the final day a celebratory procession of the creations made over the course of the festival made its way around the site providing some great opportunities to capture the spirit of the festival.

Giving Soul was a fantastic example of the world-art displayed. The title was taken from the translation for the Greek word psyche and the Latin name anima, the “animating principle” – the vital force inside every living creature – close to the Christian concept of soul. So “Animation” would be the technique of giving “soul” to inanimate objects, drawings, etc.

The Six artists who displayed their work were Edwina Ashton, Sebastian Buerkner, Simon Faithfull, Melanie Jackson, William Kentridge and David Shrigley. The work by the South African artist William Kentridge stood out in particular: He uses a stop motion technique of filming charcoal drawings, making erasures and changes, and then filming it again. The palimpsest-like effect creates a fitting atmosphere for what is often fairly dark subject matter.

I would recommend Womad to anyone. As a photographer it was an amazing experience in itself to be able to photograph such a colourful, fun, friendly and diverse festival. It was unlike any festival I have been to and there was always something interesting and creative happening. It is a delight for all the senses, a festival of inspiration and great discovery.

 

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Vivian Maier at the London Street Photography Festival

Tuesday, July 26th, 2011

100,000 negatives were taken by the photographer Vivian Maier over four decades. 20 to 30,000 of them were never developed and in her lifetime she had never shown her work to anyone.

Every one of her photographs remained in storage as Maier got older, until she was no longer able to pay the warehouse holding fee, and subsequently had to put her work up for auction.

90% of her photographs were sold for $400 to a man called John Maloof who was researching the Chicago area for a book on the city’s history.  At the time, Maloof knew little about street photography and had no idea about what he was to discover. Years later, he did try to find her, but unfortunately was too late. Her obituary had been placed just days before he began his search.

Maloof set about developing the films and scanning the negatives, gradually revealing the brilliance of Maier’s work. It wasn’t until he properly took the project on that he realized the magnitude of it all.

I went to see the first UK exhibition of her work at the German Gymnasium last Thursday as part of London’s Street Photography Festival. There were around 40 prints on display, the little boy and the man on the beach were two that caught my eye. I enquired into the price of a print (as if I was a serious buyer!?) and… let’s just say that John Maloof will probably make his auction bid.

If you get a chance to see her work in the flesh it’s certainloy worth a visit. When standing in front of her more everyday snapshots of a bygone era, you cannot help wonder what she would  have thought about her newly acclaimed fame and exposure.

The London Street Photography Festival starts at King’s Cross and will be on until the end of July.

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Lab Craft Exhibition: Jewellery Designed by a Voice Message

Wednesday, July 20th, 2011

Call me an old romantic, but I fell in love with the idea behind this necklace whilst wandering through the Lab Craft exhibition of digital crafts. Remarkably, it is made using input from a digital voice recording.

What do you think it says: “I love you?” Or alternatively, “I want you to have a scratchy neck all day?” I showed it to a young friend who shuddered at the idea it might say something nasty. The cynicism of youth. It reminds me of a Nigerian blanket I once slept under, made by Igbo tribeswomen. It was supposed to have witchdoctor blessings of safety woven into it, so that tribesmen felt safe sleeping out in the wild.

My cynical entrepreneurial brain wishes 1234lab would get in touch with De Beers, who marketed the right-hand ring so successfully.

How about a right-hand ring with your own message in it? Look down in a hard meeting, see the ring and know that in the very DNA of the design is a little note to yourself that you made on your phone whilst sitting on a beach, looking at your perfect retirement spot. I might just commission one from 1234lab myself.

There is so much going on at the Lab Craft exhibition, and it’s not all girly stuff. The exhibition has many examples from chairs to tables, demonstrating that digital is radically changing the landscape of physical form.

Lab Craft has been curated in partnership with the Crafts Council UK and is touring the country at the moment. For more information go to www.labcraft.org.uk

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10 year anniversary at Digit: CONGRATULATIONS HENRY!

Friday, July 15th, 2011

Digit peeps past and present gathered last night to celebrate the 10 year anniversary of Creative Director Henry Brook, who has pioneered Digit’s creative work since 2001 (or is it 1998?).

It was a fantastic night – great to see so many familiar faces from Digit past and present.  A big thank you to all who joined us in making it such a special occasion. Congratulations Henry! Here’s to 10 more!

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D&AD New Blood / Friday 1st July: Workshop @Digit

Monday, July 4th, 2011

A healthy sample of talented young graduates in illustration, graphic and digital design were invited to the Digit studio last Friday as part of this year’s D&AD New Blood festival. The afternoon involved an intensive workshop, in which participants were asked to come up with ideas based upon a single brief, which was to make Britons of all ages become sports obsessed in the run up to the London 2012 Olympics.

The students were given just two and a half hours to come up with a winning pitch, presented on 5 sheets of A3 paper, and then delivered to a panel of judges for 5 minutes each. After a long, hot afternoon of brainstorming and concept sketches, it finally came time to pitch them in front of a panel of industry heavies. Although nerves had been running  high, each group did incredibly well in selling their ideas to a highly opinionated and experienced panel, who eventually spent over half an hour deliberating over who would be the winning team.

The judging panel, which included representatives from Microsoft, Diesel and The Roundhouse, as well as our very own Creative Director, considered all the pitches to be of a very high standard. However, the winning team was announced on the day: A massive congratulations to Shinji Pons, Keir Ferne and Lilianna Kuang, each of whom will be invited back for a unique opportunity to discuss their portfolios with our Creative Director and other senior designers at Digit.

The whole afternoon was rounded off by celebratory drinks with Digit staff and judges who even managed to fit in a nail-biting performance of Fifa on the Studio X-Box before moving on to the Ten Bells for a well-earned pint.

Thanks again to everyone who made it such a memorable experience!

Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.

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Enduring symbols with Angus Hyland

Thursday, June 30th, 2011

A few of us headed over to Pentagram’s studio last night to watch a lecture by Angus Hyland. He gave us a run down of his top ten most enduring logo marks.

The event was sponsored by Creative Review and Sohnar in order to publicise the release of his new book Symbol

From the Apple logo to the WWF panda, Angus walked us through each individual mark; charting their origins, who designed them (free prize for the audience member who could guess the answer), their development over time and the reason why they may have become so enduring.

I personally would have liked the talk to have gone into a bit more depth, especially around how these logos have endured in relationship to the brand as a whole, but this was a small gripe. Overall I found it a very interesting and engaging talk.

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William T. Wiley Exhibition at the Mayor Gallery

Monday, June 13th, 2011

Having roots in the Bay Area and feeling rather homesick, I jumped at the chance to attend William T. Wiley’s exhibition at the Mayor Gallery this past week.

Deemed one of the founding fathers of West Coast Funk Art by the New York Times following his retrospective at the Smithsonian last year, Wiley presented a collection of his work that spanned across 40 years alongside the work of Wally Hendrick, a dear friend of his.

Trying to describe one of Wiley’s pieces is a bit more difficult than referencing a certain style. The best way to think about it is multiple layers of thoughts, ideas, images, references and words. What I love about his pieces is is that they include surreal, make believe characters collaged in with pieces of graph paper, sketches, cut outs and type. Each collage becomes interactive as you can’t help but try and read the phrases that say things like “Dude! No one has time to read all this stuff!” and “I’ve got it all on the line — and the time it takes — to make mistakes — if there is such a thing.”

Having taught the likes of Bruce Nauman and Deborah Butterfield, Wiley’s influential style and intriguing works of art can be seen across the Unites States and now in the UK until the 29th of July at the Mayor Gallery.

Close up of  a piece at the exhibition.


I Visit Bob
1981


Alchemical Lyon Tortured with Abstractions
2005


Meridian Moons Overwhatarewe
2006

 

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