Kitten lamps

Today is one of those rare occasions when I see something amazing and I feel a real urge to share it with the word (through a blog that no one reads according to this new stats section in blogger, ohh...)

Anyway these cute kitten lamps called MiCha are designed by Kuntzel & Deygas and are my recent find from the Mint Shop. They come in several very natural kitty poses like those below:

They look so playful and fun - a piece of everyday technology given character by a simple reference to a domestic animal. Obviously they do not look like they could be functional lamps considering a big nose and whiskers in the middle of the shade. However I think their main value and function is some sort of comforting quality. They are more like robot pets that engage with the "owner" (user) by starring at him (shedding light). The more I look at them they also seem really cheeky -  how they just shamelessly look at you, little torch heads or spy under your bed revealing all the dust. :)
Anyhow  I wouldn't mind having one of those in my room - I could always pull his tail out of the socket if I'm fed up of him starring :) And considering I am just decorating my new place and my birthday's coming... Oh hold on... they are only 1500 euro a piece... I better stick with my good old meowing, furry one.

Wooooow

Forgive me the post title, but that's what I thought when I have seen the video below. And it's not about the fact that it's about Harry Potter. It's about the animated figurines made of book pages.


via A White Casousel

Beautiful and enchanting - the more I think about it, the more I realise the beauty of printed text. Lines of letters on a creamy backgound - on the one hand very structured, aligned, restricted with margines, paragraphs ect, but on the other organic and chaotic. When I was little I used to imagine every page has a hidden game between the lines of the story - that the letters form a labyrynth and there is a 'path' between them. Also the slightly rough texture of the paper adds a lot to it, causing tiny defects in print and giving each letter unique shape. No Kindle can provide that.

So take this piece of art: a printed page texture and make it into a poetic, fairytale landscape with tiny figures of spiders galloping through hills formed by book pages. Isn't it pretty? Not sure if it fits the style Harry Potter though - I'd rather animate some sort of philosophical story this way...  One day maybe.

but don't get me wrong - I'm so signing in!

tired of 'to do' lists?

So am I. Especially as they lost their power to motivate me. That's why I love this idea of this clock, designed  by Maria Bergson called "Shoulda Woulda Coulda". The little coloured magnetic tags represent tasks to do that you set for each hour - when the time comes the hands start pushing them along as they move. So you can visualise how much you're due. Ingenious.

 

here is the link to designers website

 

Lego booties

When I was little I hated tying my shoelaces. I bet if I was given a pair of those Kickers Lego, doing my shoes would have been my favourite thing.

I think that Lego's interlocking system is one of the best fastenings ever invented, so using it in many different applications is a way to go. And being used in children's clothing and shoes gives them amazing play value.

via Babygadget

Paper business

For the last couple of weeks I have been surrounded by paper - paper cards, pop-ups and loads of wonderful flat and 3 dimensional things made out of paper. It's a completely different language of 3D design I am discovering now and I admit I'm getting surprised on every step.

Here is something nice I have found - very girly

However... as brilliant as paper may be - with all it's forms,textures,colours and its cheapness and availability and recycle-ability... it all seems like cheating... Temporary and non-durable design. I mean it is all good when we use it for cards and packaging and all that stuff that's going to waste after a few days. But I'm not really keen on those papery every day objects, like furniture for instance, that claim to be so eco-friendly. One rain and here goes your cardboard chair turned into paper pulp.

Paper cutouts

Since I have started freelancing in Tigerprint, I am surrounded by loads of talented people. Last week I have met Emily, who's really talented paper craft artist. What she does are very detailed, multi layered paper cutouts.

Emily is from Edinburgh so many of her pieces include Scottish symbols such as thistle or hairy cows, like the one above, which makes me feel a bit sentimental. 

More of her work can be found here.

Stop Motion Animation

For the last year I had the most contact with stop motion animation that I ever had in my entire life. Obviously this is due to my boyfriend Jacek, who is very much into stop-frame and directs and shoots his own animations.

This year he has completed two and a half films - "A.R.T." that can be watched here,"Not Growing Up" of which shooting is still in progress and "Once Upon the Time" which was a 1,5 min intro of my Baika Dolls and can be watched (link soon)

Sneaky shot from "Not Growing Up" scenery planning

However the final pieces do not show how much effort is involved in making a stop motion animation. As I had a chance to see everything behind the scenes and I must admit that this is a hard work including a lot of forward thinking and planing.
Jacek is registering his process on his blog: http://stoptheframe.blogspot.com

Interesting thing about stop-motion animation is that it is very traditional and sort of 'old school' of making films, but it is still very popular and appeals greatly to both adults and children, despite all the 3D computer graphics available. In the beginning I considered stop-frame films as a niche but as I'm more into them, I started to notice how stop-motion studios are around and how widely is the method used.
For example today I have found Raspberry Film studio that has very impressive site with nice graphics and lovely raspberry colour theme. Their animations are interesting when it comes to models and scenery, but I the stories could have made more sense.