Meanwhile #144
Hyperlinks, unexplained sounds and weird noises
— Thought it was about time I shared some of my own work! Problem is, I’ve been doing a lot of art directing for film and TV marketing material recently, which basically means I have a lot of projects that I’m very proud of, buried beneath multiple layers of NDA.1 So in lieu of that stuff, I’ll be topping Meanwhile with my own collage sketches and composition experiments.2
— Anyone else obsessed with trawling the Christie’s auctions while daydreaming about art you can’t afford? Always lots of interesting pieces to be found, and the images are nice and big too. For example, Grayson Perry’s The Island of Bad Art is well worth a zoom around, even if most of it does feel like a personal attack.
— More overdraft-troubling loveliness to be found at Projekt 26, purveyors of midcentury Polish posters. Even if you’re not going to dip your hand in your pocket, it’s an incredible resource for typography and colour palette inspiration.
— Louie Schwartzberg talks about the craft and technology that goes into his mushroom time-lapse videos. The results are quite beautiful, but if you’re currently watching The Last of Us, watching this will probably trigger intense fungal panic.
— Ridiculous tables from the 1979 Advanced Dungeons & Dragons DM’s Guide, including the Unexplained Sounds and Weird Noises Table, the Chance of Monk Stunning/Killing Opponent by Height Table and of course the Random Harlot Table.3
— Really enjoying Fleishman is in Trouble on Disney+, which weirdly reminds me of Cameron Crowe’s Singles for reasons I can’t quite put my finger on. Respect to the makers for faithfully adapting Kelly Blair’s original cover design for the opening shot and titles. More of Kelly’s work here.
— The history of LEGO’s smaller and cubier Modulex system, tracing its evolution from 1960s architectural modelling tool to project-tracking aid to signage system. Warning: watching this video will result in significant eBaying. I’m the proud owner of one Modulex brick4 and it’s adorable and I need MORE.
The difference between book design and film/tv design basically comes down to “TELL EVERYONE THIS THING EXISTS” and “TELL NOBODY THIS THING EXISTS”. Shifting back and forth can be rather befuddling.
It’s design without purpose, which I guess makes it … art?
I’m *rolls* a haughty courtesan!
Thanks to the incredibly generous Caz Mockett at last week’s Bricktastic convention.