10.08.12 |
∞
I’ve had a soft spot for actor Kyle MacLachlan ever since watching him as Jeffrey Beaumont in Blue Velvet. The guy has had a pretty varied career as well: six years of Sex In the City and lots of smaller, quirkier roles spanning both TV and film. So naturally he’s a pretty stellar fit for The A.V. Club‘s regular Random Roles interview feature.
Love his commentary on watching Showgirls (Kyle had a starring role) for the first time:
It was about to première, I hadn’t seen it yet, and I wanted to. So I went to see it and… I was absolutely gobsmacked. I said, “This is horrible. Horrible!” And it’s a very slow, sinking feeling when you’re watching the movie, and the first scene comes out, and you’re like, “Oh, that’s a really bad scene.” But you say, “Well, that’s okay, the next one’ll be better.” And you somehow try to convince yourself that it’s going to get better… and it just gets worse. And I was like, “Wow. That was crazy.” I mean, I really didn’t see that coming.
10.08.12 |
∞
Jason is one of the designers I respect most from both his writings and tweets, and this extended interview helps illustrate why. I especially liked his advice to designers starting out:
Creativity is like a muscle and you need to exercise it constantly. You need to draw; you need to sketch; you need to constantly be recording and taking in the world around you. A lot of writers say they need to write in order to understand how they think; I believe designers need to draw to understand how they think. Keeping a sketchbook is something that every designer I know takes for granted. Because it’s something they can do, it’s something they don’t do.
10.05.12 |
∞
From Font Bureau:
The digital version of Helvetica that everyone knows and uses today is quite different from the typeface’s pre-digital design from 1957. Originally released as Neue Haas Grotesk, many of the features that made it a Modernist favorite have been lost in translation over the years from one typesetting technology to the next.
Type designer Christian Schwartz has newly restored the original Neue Haas Grotesk in digital form – bringing back features like optical size variations, properly corrected obliques, alternate glyphs, refined spacing, and more.
Really interesting work here. Be sure to check out the features page to see the subtle (yet significant) differences between Neue and the default Helvetica.
10.05.12 |
∞
Indiewire is right…these are really awesome posters. Love the diversity of style as well, from minimalism to bill typography to washed out, 70s-esque wide shots.
10.04.12 |
∞
Lots of great advice here on running fast design iterations. Many fairly well proven pieces of advice here as well, like the weaknesses of group brainstorming and how tighter constraints and deadlines can lead to innovative ideas.
10.04.12 |
∞
I’m generally not the biggest fan of Anthony Lane’s New Yorker film reviews, but I think he puts together a strong argument with Paul Thomas Anderson’s latest:
Here is frustration made flesh, with fearsome results; would it be heretical or ungrateful to say that there are times, when Phoenix is in full spate, and when Hoffman is revealing similar ruptures of rage in Dodd’s more genial façade, when there is just too much acting going on, perhaps with a capital “A”? Or that Jonny Greenwood’s rich and inventive score is used with such unceasing fervor that you almost want it, now and then, to take a break and leave the action in peace? On reflection, and despite these cavils, we should bow to “The Master,” because it gives us so much to revere…
For me, the screenplay fell flat in the latter half of the film, which made me like it far less than I expected going in. Yet there is so much to admire, much of what is highlighted in Lane’s piece.
10.03.12 |
∞
Really enjoyable read here on how Microsoft’s web design jumped into such a modern, approachable design. Pay special attention to author Nishant’s “four tenets” web design presentation at the beginning; I like his emphasis on responsive design.
10.03.12 |
∞
The Atlantic‘s Derek Thompson:
I have a theory — well, maybe more of a frame — for the message these two graphs are sending. For younger people, the Internet is the new cable news. For advertisers, cable news is still cable news…but ultimately, attention and money are zero sum, and advertising companies will shift money to meet the eyes wherever they go. And they’re going online.
10.02.12 |
∞
A great image collection of the Wong Kar-Wai great has been compiled over at The Criterion Collection‘s site. Can DP Chrisopher Doyle do no wrong?
10.02.12 |
∞
Checkmark is a location-based reminder iPhone app. True, ever since iOS 5 and Siri we’ve had the ability to add simplistic reminders via Apple’s built in apps. Yet entering a new reminder remains cumbersome. That’s where Checkmark shines – a new reminder is three quick taps away, and the UI is clean and easily digestible.
It’s currently $2 in the App Store. If you occasionally need quick reminders when you leave/arrive at work or home, it’s a good buy.