Book; Of mice and men

The best laid plans of mice and men dont always work out as planned. The book follows the storyof two men in the industrial revolution age travelling across America seeking work with a final dream in hand. One of the men is a smart man who has worked all his life, the other has a disability and is not as you would say very switched on. Regardless of this they stay together seeking work where they can find it with one looking after the other. There dream is to one day settle down in a nice quiet cottga ein the mountains with vegetable patches and easy living. But the best laid plans of men do not always work out right, when lenny the one with a disability screws it all up. It is referenced along side mice becausethey are just like us they collect food and build a home trying to make it in the world travelling where neds be, but lenny has an obsession with them for a pet, but keeps killing them becasue of his sheer size and his disability, he doesnt know how hard to hold them. Thus it goes hand in hand and follows the story of all the trouble lenny gets them both into and the final action his friend must take to rectify the situation and maybe fulfill there dream. It is a book that you personally can relate to as we all have plans that dont seem to work out just as how we want them too.

Film; Citizen Kane

The film traces the life of Charles foster kane, a man whos career in the publishing world is born of idealic social service but gradually evolves into a rtuhless pursuit of power. It foucuses on flashbacks through the film of different incidents and from different points of view. Basically Kane dies and uters a last breath saying "Rosebud" a reporter then goes delving into Kanes life and past before he died to try and dig up any mysterious findings and also to find the meaning of his last word.

The film has been voted number one many times in American poles and it does take some getting into when you first begin to watch it but as the plot thickens and puzzles get solved the overall feeling I got from the film was through Kanes rise into power taking over the newspapers and gaining a dominant stance in the world the only time he was truly happy was when he was poor and had very little and no desire to gain power. The rest of his life although being wealthy and powerful he wasnt truly happy, and it goes to show that power and money are not what can solve things or make you happy.

Design;Apple i phone

Using a laptop to work on the move is becoming almost as common as reading the paper on your daily commute. More than a quarter of us read email and get a head start on the working day, according to the future foundation. One in 10 commuters works on a laptop on the train and just as many email on their smartphone. Although they're first and foremost mobile phones and we'll always use them to make calls, the new breed of phones do much more. Once restricted to executives with a blackberry and an IT department, mobile email is easy to use on a wide range of phones. Mobile web browsers have been primative, but the iphone has improved the experience dramatically and other smart phone browsers are set to catch up quickly. Iphone users search with google 50 times more than other phone users but mobile browsing generally has increased 89 percent in the last year according to measurement service M:Metrics.

The Iphone has lead the way in innnovation it is changing the face of mobiles and putting pressure on its competitors, it looks good, is simple to use and aas i forementioned allows you to work and email any where. I think within the next few years all or most of all mobiles will follow down this path almost cancelling out the need for laptops.

Artist; Ant macari

Macari is an artist with a difference, quoted from the baltic "Macari’s direct physical response to the space has resulted in a new series of site-responsive drawings, traceable throughout the building. This presentation of Ant Macari’s work is expansive and involving, presenting new visual challenges to us in and around the gallery that reaches beyond the conventional art exhibition."

He uses as you can see from the photo all the space he has available to him in the room he is situated in to produce his art. He leaves codes and hints in his work and forms paths to illusions hidden secrets. He uses a diverse array of techniques from tonal to line shading and isometric drawings, he involves the viewers in a fantastic way when his art is displayed. I see it as marketing art in a different sense taking in and using everything he can around him. His art could be classed as grafitti if seen on streets etc but is grafitti classed as art? However becuase it is setup in exhibitions it is known as contemporary art . Viewers are often handed guides asking them if they can find the puzzles hidden within the art of lines and crazy drwaings. It reminds me of alice in wonderland sorts of themes or pans labrynth.

Website; www.walkit.com

Co-owner and founder of walkit.com launched the UK'S first online walking route planner and now turns over 250,000 pound and recives 55,000 hits on the site a month. This site to me is a simple product with good innovation and design. Walkit was started for people to be able to measure how long it would take for them to walk from a meeting to their office in central London rather than them driving, as walking is the quicker option but people didnt belive or seem to realize it. The essence of walkit is ' given the right information people can beat the grind of the daily commute using their feet. ' The wevsite doesnt spend anything on marketing and only uses word of mouth, which of course is the most powerful marketing a company can get. People having been giving up the car and bus ride to work because through the site they have realized that walking is quicker, this is leading the way to a more enviromentally friendly City and healthier people.

Design; Lexus GS450h

The Lexus S450 is the world's first luxury car to go into production employing a petrol-electric hybrid powertrain. This is a fantastic idea of innovation especially with the ever rising cost of fuel prices, it apparantly cuts the price of fuel for the user by a quater if not more, The GS450h also emits 30 grams less of climate changing carbon-dioxide per kilometre, which is a massive kay point as global warming is becoming such a major issue in our current time. The Lexus isnt cheap coming in at approximatly 100,00 american dollars, but I think its leading the way for all car manufacturers and industry. Imagine how much cheaper it would be to run your car on a quarter if not less of the price. Performance isnt an issue either the engine kicks in at certain rev points for those steep hills or important quick takeovers. However the engine only kicks in when needed and thus is fantastic for those long cruising journeys at a steady speed which will save you loads on fuel price and consumption.

Architecture; Durham Cathedral

As you driveup and over the A690 into Durham and glance at the welcometo County Durham sign you will then be amazed at the sight in front of you which is now a world re-nowned world heritage sight. Durham Cathedral is the greatest Norman building in England, perhaps even in Europe. It is cherished not only for its architecture but also for its incomparable setting. In a nationwide BBC poll held in 2001 it was voted the nation's best-loved building. Like Hadrian's Wall and the Angel of the North, it is an icon of north-east England, its image is instantly recognisable to people who love this part of Britain.

The cathedral sits on a hill of land surrounded by the river wear. The cathedral is built in Norman style and architecture and is also the tomb of saint Cuthbert. When I've visited the Cathedral its stain glass windows and pillar stone supports whcih reach up to 30 feet high are sculpurtured and crafted to perfection. You get a strong emotional feeling when you enter the cathedral from the huge vast halls and endless room between the floor and ceiling. The student housing and accomadation for Durham University is also built onto the church and all the first year students still live there as was the same in Norman times for settlers in Durham. The court yard was deigned to open up onto the main town centre and so is a beautiful spot for students and familys to rest, picnic and just chill out. For me the building itself is beautiful and is a grat landmark to have for Durham as it is the first and last thing you see whn entering/leaveing the city.

Museum; Sainsburys

Lets face it if your doing a brief based on or anything to do with food, where's the best place to visit? A food supermarket. Its full of branding, attracting colours, user guides and information layout ideas. If you ever get the chance to look around a supermarket simply for research purposes rather than with food on the mind you ll notice a lot more. You even notice what people are attracted to and how the supermarkets attract them by interior layout, whats in your face, whats not!! the height of the shelving the colours of the products? Look along a shampoo shelf ? hundreds upon hundreds of bottles all lined up next to each other, which one is screaming to you grab me as you look along because 90 percent of the time it will be screaming to people looking for what your looking for, ask a friend to do the same and see what screams to them. Its a great way and source of gathering fast information for marketing products. Even Product design itself, there are vast amounts of all asorted packing methods and ideas on the shelves. Think of it as a library but with physical objects rather than books and pictures. You can even touch !!!!

Books; Jim Krause Idea Books

I own these books and there a fantastic source of inspiration, ideas, research, valuable information and general interest. There a collection all by the same author Jim Krause, each book is full of examples of work related to the title not designed to be copied but designed as possibly a starting point a a spark of inspiration for when your stuck on that impossible brief. From experience they really do work as well, taking two minutes out just to skip through a relevant book provides you with hundread's of flowing ideas. I would strongly recommend them to any designer with lots of briefs on the go. The colour index provides a vast archive of rgb and cmyk colour codes all in order of 'nature', 'love', 'fresh' etc so if your looking for that perfect colour its basically a massive colour wheel in one book.

Artist; Yoshitomo Nara

I actually first noticed this artists work in the Baltic Flour mill As pre-mentioned in one of my earlier posts and his work immediately stuck with me and so I started looking into his work and collection and they are a vast funny, original, different and interesting collection of work.

Yoshitomo in my mind uses his talent to bring ordinary everyday people and there actions to life by simple and stimulating illustrations. He has produced thousands of pictures and he often goes to small villages and observes the community and begins to base and draw his illustrations on the people in the community depicting out things that they are doing which are unique. It shows a very simple way of how otherwise normal things that we overlook and don't notice can become intriguing and interesting. His style is very individual and he seems to always use pastel colours and light tones, he uses outlines rather than dark and light shading to depict shadows and depth, however some use of gradual gradient can be seen in the dominant black and whites. The picture below is a great example of how ordinary life can be brought alive and become fascinating through Yoshitomo's characteristic illustrations.

Film; Muhammad Ali The greatest

Not the film with Will Smith in, but actually the story and following of Muhammad Ali throughout his life and the amazing beliefs he stood for and trials and tribulations he went through to stand by them.

The film portrays Muhammad Ali and his amazing fights and life story, it has footage never seen before on television or ever aired and is kind of like an in depth documentary on him. Ali is a huge inspiration of mine from being the best boxing fighter in the world he didn't let the fame and fortune corrupt him. The film starts as a young boy and his dreams and ambitions and follows him through the stripping of his heavy weight title, his imprisonment, his fights and most of all his beliefs and what he stood for. I find it quite an emotional and inspiring film to watch and you find out alot more about Ali than just his fame, you begin to get a deeper understanding of the life he choose to live and how even the government is strong enough to weaken one man.

Museum; Baltic

The Baltic Flour Mill

This art/modern contempory museum sits on the river Tyne's keyside. The Baltic has no permanent collection it is an ever changing archive of exhibitions by talented artists from all over the world, it ranges from blockbuster shows to art and the community demonstrations. It is a great place to discover fresh ideas and inspirations with its ever changing pieces of work. The building itself was converted from an old flour mill into what is now the museum. The Baltic is the biggest gallery of its kind IN THE WORLD. It has seen over 2 million visitors in the 6 years it has been opened and has become a landmark of Newcastle. Inside it has vast shelves of books on art and the design world as a great archive for research, along with lecture theatres and workshops it is a fantastic learning and motor-vating place.