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RIP Ralph McQuarrie

I can’t tell you the exact date and time when I first saw Star War or for that matter how many times I’ve watched each of the films since, but it’s a lot and probably bordering on the unhealthy!

What I can tell you is that Star Wars and it’s sequels, has probably been the single most influential thing on my path to becoming a designer. Now I’m not suggesting for one moment that my Parents, both natural and graphical (you know who you are) music, college & university etc, didn’t have some large role to play. But for as long as I can remember Star Wars has always been there.

Of course as a young wide eyed little 70′s wannabe Jedi it was the excitement of the movie that captured my heart first. But as time goes by that can fade, as it has done for many of my friends, now just that film we used to be crazy about when we were kids. I’m happy to say they’ve never faded in my eyes and if anything those films, plus a few others I’m keen to mention, keep getting brighter. But why?

Put simply amazingly detailed aesthetics, and the genius that is Ralph McQuarrie, who sadly passed away this weekend. “Who” I hear you ask? Well you can be forgiven for asking that question as he’s the unsung hero behind some the greatest designs ever capture on film. Ralph McQuarrie role call reads like the ultimate Sci-fi/Fantasy top 10 with the likes of Star Wars, ET, Close Encounters, Batteries Not Included, Raiders of the Lost Ark and Battle Star Galactica, all of which I love.

Above is Ralph’s concept drawing for the now iconic Storm Trooper Helmet and below is probably his most recognisable creation Darth Vader.

It’s so easy to forget just how much Ralph MacQuarrie has contributed to design and I for one can’t imagine a world without his work in it. I think his life’s work is best summed up on his website…

“His influence on design will be felt forever. There’s no doubt in our hearts that centuries from now amazing spaceships will soar, future cities will rise and someone, somewhere will say… ‘that looks like something Ralph McQuarrie painted’.”

Posted by Chris on 4 March 2012

Bad Toys II

Ever wondered what goes on in a young kids head while they play with their toy cars? Well I’d like to think it’s along the lines of the above short film ‘Bad Toys II’ from Creators Daniel Brunet & Nicolas Douste.

I’ll happily admit that I’m a right old sucker for the original ‘Bad Boys’ franchise, and in my opinion it includes one of the best lines in cinematic history “This shit just just got real”!

Cross this with one of my other loves Adam & Joe Show toy sequences and as Ken Korda would say you’ve got ‘Gold Dirt’. I’m not suggesting for one minute Bad Toys II is a ripoff, as the production levels alone are enough separate the two, while the cutting between reality and animation is a really clever touch.

Enjoy

Posted by Chris on 10 February 2012

Bill Maher – Irritable Bowl Syndrome

London-based freelancer Fraser Davidson created this 2 minute infographic piece around an audio sequence taken from Bill Maher’s book “The New New Rules: A Funny Look at How Everybody but Me Has Their Head Up Their Ass”. Irritable Bowl Syndrome is a witty comparison of american football and socialism’s financial parallels. Davidson took aesthetic ideas taken from Soviet constructivism and 1950′s Americana to create what I think is a great and incredibly fluid animation. It retains the irony and humor of Mahers monologue really well.

For more of Fraser’s work check out his website.

Posted by Darren on 30 January 2012

100 People with 100 Cameras

So we’re back and it’s finally the year Two Thousand and Twelve. To get us started I thought we should find something interesting about the year ahead to blog about, so as we trawl the t’internet on this Sunday afternoon I came across this little gem.

The 100 is a interesting photographic project from the people who brought you The disposable memory project. As The 100 team explain on their website “Over the course of 2012, we’ll be inviting 100 people to take part in an exercise which aims to capture the lives of people from the age of one to one hundred. We’ll be giving away disposable cameras to each person, and asking them to capture a week in their life. Over time, we’ll build up 100 photographic snapshots of people of every age, and share them via the project blog.”

Unfortunately my age has sadly already been taken but if you like the sound of it why not head over there and sign up! Regular updates on the project will be posted on the projects blog and I’m really looking forward to seeing how this plays out over the year. Enjoy!

Posted by Chris on 15 January 2012

Counter-Print

Seeing as its the season of good will i’m sharing an excellent site I found the other day. If you haven’t already heard of Counter-Print then head on over and check it out. They specialise in finding out of print and hard to find design books, magazines and posters. An excellent resource for any designer, be careful though this site is addictive!

Posted by James on 16 December 2011

A bottle of Coke please, how much?

I came across this great little clip via the BBC today about the origins of an everyday design classic, the Coca-Cola Original Glass Bottle. Many moons ago, in another agency life, both myself and Nat had the opportunity to work with this everyday icon and so it was really interesting to find out that one of only two prototypes, that lead to Coca-Cola OGB design, is up for auction in Beverly Hills. And what’s the estimated price for said bottle, a cool $200,000.

What I love about the Coca-Cola OGB is that it’s design is as simplistic as it gets, with so much iconic impact and just as rememberable, if not more so, than the brands logo. If that little lot wasn’t enough I’m absolutely convinced drinking an ice cold Coke out of the OGB makes it taste even better!

So as all that flashed through my head I thought I know I’ll write a post and here we are…

Below shows the concept drawing and prototype for the Coca-Cola curvy bottle created way back in 1915 by bottle designer Earl R. Dean. Amazingly this is one of only two in existence, the other is owned by Coca-Cola.

In 1915, Harold Hirsch, a lawyer for Coca-Cola, came up with a plan to launch a national competition in which bottle manufactures across the U.S would be asked to design a distinctive bottle. The brief was simple, created a bottle so distinctive that people could recognise it with a single glance or by the way it felt in hand.

Bottle manufacturer Root Glass Company, Indianna eventually won the competition with a design inspired by a cocoa pod, that the aforementioned Earl R. Dean had found in an encyclopaedia. The winning Prototype never made it into production as the middle diameter was deemed too wide compared to the base and this would make the bottles unstable when on the conveyor belts. But the seeds of the idea were sown and even after decades of tweaks, nips and tucks the original concept is still ingrained in todays bottle.

Above is the design patent registered for the original prototype design and below is for the revised and eventual bottle design. You may notice that on the patent Earl R. Dean’s name does not appear but instead the credit goes to the plants superintendent, Alexander Samuelson. Unfortunately Dean’s lack of credit was a result of company procedure, the cheek of it!

Right I’m going to pop to the shop and get myself a proper glass bottle of Coke, enjoy!

Posted by Chris on 3 December 2011

Com Truise

Saw Com Truise at Madame Jojo’s yesterday and was well impressed. Very talented and pleasant guy.

Com Truise is the maker of an experimental and bottom heavy style he calls “mid-fi synth-wave, slow-motion funk”. Had a chat with him after the gig and turns out he does all his artwork, such as his Joy Division ‘Unknown Pleasures’ inspired debut album cover for Galactic Melt (see above), himself too. You can listen to the album below.

Seth, if you ever get too busy with your musik that you haven’t got enough time to design your own cover art, which I’m sure you will, just give us a shout.

Posted by Darren on 30 November 2011

Last Day of the Tache: Please Donate

One month in the making and here’s the final result guys. If that’s not worth a donation I don’t know what is. So please dig deep and help us in our attempt to raise money for charity. Small donations are also very welcome. Please donate here.

Posted by Darren on 30 November 2011

The Toaster Project

“Left to his own devices he couldn’t build a toaster. He could just about make a sandwich and that was it.”
Mostly Harmless, Douglas Adams, 1992

Ever built a toaster from scratch? Me neither, but how hard can it be? RCA graduate Thomas Thwaites as part of his final MA project attempted just that. Everything used to make the toaster had to be sourced from the raw materials. With the final cost coming in at £1187.54 this is a really humbling project that drives home how much industry goes in to something that we can buy for £3.99 from Argos.

The visual journey

The final toaster

Posted by James on 24 November 2011

Have You Seen My Sister Evelyn

Ever drawn on fogged-up windows? Not like this you haven’t. Evelyn Evelyn are a songwriting duo performing original compositions on piano, ukulele, guitar and accordion. This lovely little video for their track “Have You Seen My Sister Evelyn” was directed by Hoku Uchiyama, who takes you on an animated journey filled with flying pianos, ukulele-playing elephants, and dancing skeletons. A little creepy but a whole lot of fun!

Posted by Darren on 19 November 2011

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