Category: Observed.
Here’s a funny one: Back in 2004 (seems so long ago) I was entertaining the idea to write a monthly opinion column for Computer Arts. I can’t remember what gave me the idea to do it in the first place (maybe I liked Jason’s column and thought “I can do that!”), but I felt I had opinions about web design that I wanted to get off my chest. I think I was at the stage where I was talking to CA about the possibility of writing it, and I’d even written a sample article. It was an article on the seeming decline of widespread Flash use, and how HTML-based sites were making a comeback. For some reason I decided at the last minute to pull out, because I didn’t feel I did the topic justice.
Anyway… for posterity, I thought it’d be fun to share the article and see if I got anything right and how much has changed since then. (This was obviously written well before the “web 2.0″ boom and the widespread proliferation of web technologies like AJAX and JQuery)
Opinion column.
Is Flash Dead?
By Tom Muller.The last couple of years have seen Flash seriously coming of age and used in one shape or form on web sites: from full blown sites using intense Flash scripting and database driven applications, to ‘in-your-face’ portfolio sites and interactive showcases; to today, where more and more designers seem to go back to HTML/PHP driven sites, avoiding Flash altogether.
Does that mean that Flash has seen its peak, or have designers grown up with the application and realized its full potential?
Cosmonaut, originally uploaded by helloMuller.
Space and astronaut imagery seem to be all the rage these days, with everyone re-purposing vintage NASA photos etc. I don’t mind that because I like space, and that whole era of the space race. Just as long as it doesn’t become over saturated, over used style quickly (which of course it will be — them’s the breaks).
Anyway — here’s a piece I did a little over 2 years ago which was going to end up in a short SF story and a collective project that ultimately never saw the light of day.
Omega Code Poster Exhibition, originally uploaded by XTRABOLD.
Shot of all the Omega Code posters on display at OFFF Portugal (no I’m not there).
My poster is shown bottom right.
I recently rediscovered the amazing work of Robert McCall, an artist who pretty much defined the space-age optimism in his paintings. Most people will probably recognize the beautiful paintings he made for Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey (which has been another big influence on me), but the first time I saw his work was in a book called Our World In Space, written by Isaac Asimov and published in 1974. It is one of those books — typical of the late 60s and early-to-mid-70s — that looks at the future of man in the universe, dreaming of extensive space exploration, vast man-made habitats in a very optimistic way, still believing that mankind was sure to conquer our solar system in the 21st century.
My dad was a huge science fiction fan and so amongst his collection of novels with weird artwork (remember, I like 5 or 6 years old) I’d stumble across this huge book with this anonymous space man on the cover (the image at the top of this post). He looked like an astronaut, but not like the ones I’d seen on TV or in magazines. This guy, and all the other illustrations in the book were of a reality that still needs to be invented, and yet it was all explained in detail how these scenarios would play out. I’d spend hours looking at those pen drawings and paintings, crudely recreating them later with Lego (which weren’t the only things I’d try to build, Hector from Saturn 3 was another favourite).
Today we live in that 21st century, the magical year of 2001 has long gone, and we’re still stuck on our planet. The only things we now shoot into the universe are lifeless machines. Hopefully, one day those paintings will become a reality — but until then we’ve got the work of Robert McCall.
Its been a while since I wrote an “Anatomy of…” post, so instead of choosing something myself (I have some ideas) why don’t you tell me what project you’d like to see dissected?
Anything goes — except Kleber projects, because those are team projects and not my own.
Reply in the comments or via my Twitter feed!
“I consider my workspace a resource – I’m surrounded by books, comics and toys. While I’m not actively flipping through books for ideas, this helps create a relaxed atmosphere to work in.
Also, rows of items might spark ideas for colour schemes.”
(From Computer Arts issue 158)
Got a flat bench in the office (this one) which we use to display books and other stuff (and make space in the overflowing bookcase) — and its a nice way to present books and stuff. Here’s what we’re currently reading & looking at:
— Dorfsman & CBS, Richard Hess
— Branding, Mono Design
— Mapping: Graphic Navigational Systems
— Akira Club, Katsuhiro Otomo
— Pulphope, Paul Pope
— Restart: New Systems In Graphic Design, Emily King & Christian Kusters
— Swiss Graphic Design, Richard Hollis
— How To Be A Graphic Designer Without Losing Your Soul, Adrian Shaughnessy
— Helvetica Forever, Lars Muller
— Design Is One, Massimo & Lella Vignelli
— Helvetica – Homage To A Typeface, Lars Muller
— The Medium Is The Massage, Marshall McLuhan
— IdN v16n1 – Craft issue
— Grafik – March 2009 issue
— Stray Toasters, Bill Sienkiewicz
— Comic Book Tattoo (I know! We designed it and I still haven’t finished reading it)
I recently added a set to Flickr containing covers of some of my favourite Marvel Comics I have from the 70s and 80s. Looking back I admit this was one of my favourite periods in comics. Maybe I’m being nostalgic — but the unapologetic style of comics from that period is something that has been long gone and replaced by something much more somber. It was during that period that I started reading comics — translated in Ducth — and gradually shifted to English language comics because I wanted to read them as they were intended, with their cover designs intact and not butchered by some poor cut and paste translation job.
There’s absolutely nothing special about these comics — they’re not collectors items (although I do have my fair share of those as well) — other than those are the comics that made me fall in love with the medium. The pure ennergy of those cover, that engaged you from the outset and almost forced you to pick up a copy and start reading was something typical of the Bronze Age of comics — sadly long gone and slowly replaced over the years to the current wave of stylised pin-up shots on covers that have no relation with whats happening between the covers.
After having spent most of 2001 without a proper job, living off my savings and the occasional freelance gig, things were about to change. In January 2002 whilst checking my list of agency sites to spam with more pathetic pleas for work I discovered that Kleber had a job opening for a designer…
Kleber had always been high on my list of agencies to work at, so I didn’t waste any time emailing them. I waited the obligatory week before emailing them again to see if they received my application. Three weeks passed without a reply. I’d learned from experience that if you haven’t had a reply after a month, your chances of hearing anything positive are small so I put this job application on the back burner and continued freelancing and worrying about ever getting a full time job again… Continue reading…
Just discovered this brilliant Flickr set of Les Maîtres du temps (Time Masters) — the classic French SF animated film directed by René Laloux and designed by Moebius. I know most people will say La Planète Sauvage (Fantastic Planet) is his masterpiece, but Les Maîtres du temps will always be my favourite film of his. Maybe because of Moebius’ design and art direction…