natecooper.net

I love the beginning of this trailer. I hear the movie is good as well…

To describe the fun of using Poladroid really just pales compared to experiencing it. This little bitty app closely replicates the experience of using a Polaroid camera. Not only does it take any picture you drop onto its funky camera icon and convert it into a Polaroid-like photo with faded colors and that classic white border. It also actually makes you wait for the photo to “develop”.

As you sit there staring at the little mini picture slowly come into focus through the brown developer you can actually use your mouse to grab and drag the images so as to “shake” it. When my roommate asked me if the shaking makes the photo develop faster; I replied “I don’t know! Just like a real Polaroid!”

This is a must see random app.

(via hrrrthrrr)

Being in a somewhat captive audience on the subway it’s hard not to soak in the visual stimuli provided by advertising on the train. In between the blur of Budweiser and city services ads every so often an ad or a campaign stands out. A more recent series that has burned an image in the back of my brain is an entry from Dentyne to promote their gum. The ads play with the concept that internet technology and culture have wedged themselves in-between actual human contact. The ads use naturalistic photography juxtaposed with plain text representations of common internet phrases and communique. The implicit meaning is that these locutions are insufficient compared to their real-life counterparts and that one should reject the distance created by technology. The warmth of actual intimacy — while chewing gum — is apparently preferable to the sterile distance of online communication. I like the ads. Whenever I board the train and see one I find myself staring for lengthy periods of time but I also feel that I have a completely opposite reaction than the ads direct meaning.

One of the greatest tools several thousands dollars of debt and a film degree have given me is the ability to perform and obsession with imagery analysis. I like the idea that pictures carry a visual vocabulary of meaning. The Dentyne ads to me carry an emotional weight in that their imagery communicates feelings like love, friendship, communion, humanity. They are beautifully shot and really have a sort of aesthetics of the real kind of feel to them. For a while, the reason behind my fascination eluded me, I liked the images but felt off-put by the message. To me the internet is not a de-facto distancing technology, but quite the opposite. It can be used to extend and facilitate real human interaction. It is useful in its supplemental function as a way to find people who might otherwise slip through the cracks and its ability to communicate information like performances, parties, gatherings en masse. When used properly in fact the internet can be the means to an end for real-life human intimacy. It finally hit me when I saw the above image “Friend Request Accepted” and I realized what it was about the ad campaign that stood out.

For me, far from criticizing or commenting on the distance between what these words mean and the representative picture of the women hugging I think the emotional connection I associate with the image and the meaning of the words is one and the same. In a way “Friend Request Accepted” is a sort of virtual hug between two people. What’s bizarre for me is the way in which I realized I had associated emotional significance to such phrases in the same way I attributed the same feeling to imagery. In a way the sterile, unassuming phrases we are accustomed to seeing online become a snap-shot of an emotion that is both visceral and in a way hyperreal.

After all, how often are we conscious of the moments we become friends? I can name many people I would consider close friends but I can’t name the specific point at which that became the case for each relationship. I can think of instances, moments when that connection manifested and I became aware of the reality of our friendship. But, as with many people my day to day interactions are not so much a catalog of those moments of clarity but instead a deluge of taking life for granted. That is what really hits me about this campaign. The isolated clips provide a window into an untapped level of awareness. Whether they be generic computer phrases or beautiful photographs.

I wonder how my recent arab-fetish fits into my desire to remake my room with all of these comfy pillows. I am totally in love with all of the decor in these photos. Click on the pic for more.

(via style-files)

John King has an article about Jan Gehl, an urban designer who was brought in to consult with San Francisco about the Fisherman’s Wharf area. Not my favorite part of the city but I like his suggestions about how to improve the area. Perhaps if they’re implemented I’ll be more apt to visit the area.

an excerpt
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Every city has its own topography and ambiance, says Jan Gehl, author of such urban design studies as 1971s “Life Between Buildings.” But he also says there are rules of thumb to keep in mind when crafting plans and reviving neighborhoods. Here are four:

Rein in the automobile. “For 50 years we were completely obsessed with making room for cars,” Gehl says. “We need to show respect for people who are moving about on foot or by bicycle.”

Accentuate the positive. “Celebrate the things that give a place its special character - views of mountains or water, historic buildings. If its nice for the locals, visitors will love to come there also.”

Emphasize the out-of-doors. “We do almost all our work indoors; we need to move in our leisure time. People want to walk, run, bicycle - or sit and enjoy the setting, have a cappuccino.”

Design for all ages. “Various groups in the population have various needs,” Gehl says. For instance, fold active playgrounds into a district - but put them where parents can relax with a glass of wine while children let off steam.

I wonder if bored police officers do such things with finger prints. Many more pics when you click on the pic.

(via baekdal.com)

Fascinating project by Nina Katchadourian hundreds more photos on her site. I like the idea making poetry out of book spines.

(via A Cup of Jo)

Wow. This is just one of the most amazing interior design jobs I’ve seen. Many more pictures when you click on the pic.

(via the style files)

Click the pic for more photos. Kind of an interesting installation from a layout perspective.

(via badbanana)

(via MOCOLOCO)