Underwater Sculptures

Jason deCaires Taylor is an internationally acclaimed eco-sculptor who creates underwater living sculptures, offering viewers mysterious, ephemeral encounters and fleeting glimmers of another world where art develops from the effects of nature on the efforts of man. His site-specific, permanent installations are designed to act as artificial reefs, attracting coral, increasing marine biomass and aggregating fish species, while crucially diverting tourists away from fragile natural reefs and thus providing space for natural rejuvenation.

www.underwatersculpture.com/pages/gallery/vicissitudes.html

What Katie Ate

http://whatkatieate.blogspot.com

What Katie ate is a resource of all things food, food photography, recipes and reviews. Set up and run in her spare time by Sydney-based commercial photographer Katie Quinn Davies.
I was particularly drawn to her rustic natural style and love it’s unfinished nature. We get so set on perfect styling for packaging when there is so much beauty and appetite appeal in shots that show the preparation and eating process in its real state.

- thanks to Kim for this one!

Memory/Dreams

Melbourne-based designer, Ellie Nuss and her partner James are exhibiting their beautiful Memory/ Dreams light sculpture at Sydney’s Sculpture by the Sea exhibition, which is on until 20th November. The instillation encourages alternative ways of seeing and thinking, revealing the iconic Bondi landscape as both a place of dreams and a haven of memories. Check out http://ellieandjames.com.au for more info.

Marina Bay

Marina Bay in Singapore is home of the first luxury Island presented by Louis Vuitton. In order to get to the ‘island’ you have to get there via a private bridge or via boat. It is a great example of how to create a sense of destination that enhances the appeal of a brand. This type of thinking is something brands like Nike and Apple have used for years but is something that perhaps airlines could learn a thing or two from. A genuine island oasis in the middle of terminal madness with an “enclosed’ experience from gate to gate would be something that would underpin the luxury credentials of any brand.

Brazilian UFC advertisement

Here’s a cool little ad for a UFC bout on pay TV in Brazil. Big idea was to capture what the viewing experience was really all about: the emotions of two mates watching the fight and supporting different fighters.

Awesome graffiti animations

Bit of an old video from Blu, an Italian graffiti artist who has become famous for his time lapsed graffiti animations. This is an example of one of his earlier pieces, but you really have to be asking yourself this question: how bored do you have to be to achieve something of this magnitude? Either way, very cool stuff!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uuGaqLT-gO4

Wow. Best use of a QR code ever!

BTW – Fast forward to the last minute or so if you’re not up for watching the dude under the needles geting the ink … needles … yikes!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3qv2dSXQXk&feature=player_embedded

Vintage branding on show

Coca-Cola has all of its vintage branding on show in London at the moment, going back 125 years. Definitely shows the brands incredible longevity.

coca-cola-design-museum

The humble soap is back!

Forget your eight pack of supermarket soaps, or the little seashell ones you get at questionable hotels … soap is making a comeback as a luxury item. And designer soap is getting the designer treatment.

Sophisticated, retro or minimalist font and visuals, combined with matte, high-end stocks and individual boxes or wrappings are making soap a must-have accessory.

One for all the font nerds.

How well do you know your fonts? Test your font knowledge with the Font game brought to you by ilovetypography.com.

ilovetypography.com/fontgame/

Just a nice little idea

‘Some student work we stumbled across and thought it was a very nice little idea. The package was created to support awareness of ‘Earth Hour’ – where people around the world are asked to turn their lights off for one hour to help the environment. Hence, the black packaging. Also loving the fluorescent yellow print on the interior of the package! Very clever.’

Joost

Joost Bakker, an artist who promotes beauty and sustainability in equal measures, has replicated his signature 100% waste free, temporary bar and restaurant the “Greenhouse” – this time for the lucky folks in Sydney.

Like its predecesors, the building itself has been created entirely from recycled and recyclable materials – from its shipping container shell right down to its floor made from industrial conveyor belts. Likewise, all furniture and tablewear have been carefully crafted from re-purposed materials: irrigation pipes and leather off-cuts fashioned into comfy chairs and sawn off beer bottles turned into drinking glasses. At Greenhouse the emphasis is on fresh food – what can’t be grown on their rooftop veggie garden, they source locally from likeminded suppliers. And what about the food that isn’t devoured? It’s composted and re-used in their garden of course! Doesn’t get much more efficient than that.

So, if you’re in Sydney pop down to The Rocks to check out this lastest wonder by Joost before it tours to Milan, Berlin, Budapest and London.

greenhousebyjoost.com

Pod & Three Peas

Pod & Three Peas is a food blog that was created by my partner Satch a SAHM (Stay at Home Mum) almost a year ago. The plan was to use it as a creative outlet to record her love of cooking and to connect to other foodies online, whilst raising our 2 kids.

As well as it being a cool way to share recipes with others, its a great place to keep track of our favourite recipes. One year on we all love the blog. Satch loves taking the photos almost as much as all the cooking and baking. The plus side for me, is that I get to try a new dinner every night. The downside, I have to put up with five minutes of her arranging forks and snapping photos before we can actually eat, especially when it all looks and smells so good!

For the Burmese Chicken Curry recipe pictured above go to; podandthreepeas.blogspot.com/search/label/curry

Blog post by Jason Adamson – Ping Pong champion of the week.

Recycling billboard banners

Who would have thought? Billboard banners turned into everyday products: wallets, storage bins and even coasters. It’s nice to see expensive marketing communication being re-used is some shape or form.

The final products are lovely eye-catching designs. And of course very unique. You would never know what was being advertised in it’s previous life.

Might need to head to the Etsy site and purchase some of those storage bins. www.etsy.com/shop/NottyPooch

Finally, real food when you fly …

Food at the airport is crap. Food on planes is worse still. There’s no two ways about it … for such an exciting venture, air travel could do with a swift kick up the bum in the food department. It’s weird though, isn’t it? As a species we’re clever enough to make 975,000lb piece of tin can fly 45,100 feet in the air, yet we haven’t managed to sort out a decent nosh along the way. It’s downright bizarre. However, if you reside in tropical Melbourne and have the good fortune of travelling overseas from time to time, then things are certainly looking up. Kick-ass cutting-edge restaurant and spurious award winner for everything culinary, Vue De Monde, have opened a sweet new café just a few clicks past Customs at Melbourne Airport. This means that you can now not only get a tasty Wagyu burger, duck cassoulet pie or house-smoked salmon baguette while you wait to mount your iron bird, but you can also grab the likes of a gourmet fruit box (sliced apple, nectarine, grapes, strawberries, blueberries and other fruit on a bed of dry ice) or dinner box (filled with hand-cut crisps, smoked-salmon rillettes, beef cheek and beetroot on ciabatta bread, cheese with grissini and a little dessert) to take with you on the plane. Yep, on the plane, folks! Genius. Get on board next time you’re boarding and kiss pasty cardboard “chicken”, random vomit-flavoured “laksa curry” and rubber “steak” goodbye for ever …

Mobius Award in New York

Wow! We just picked up a coveted Mobius Award in New York  for our rebranding of Colmar Brunton. Happy days, indeed! If you’re not familiar with them, Colmar Brunton are a really fun, grounded and switched-on bunch to work with – they also happen to be  the nation’s largest independent market research company (www.cbr.com.au). And hey, if you’re not familiar with the Mobius Awards well, they’re pretty darn special too (http://tiny.cc/gzocz). The lime green caravan rolls on …  

Vintage cheese labels

We talk a lot about brand storytelling at Elmwood. We love the myths and legends that give brands real character and help them carve a unique spot in the marketplace and the hearts of customers.

Sure, I’m a sucker for cute animals, so I couldn’t resist these great vintage cheese labels spotted on the rather brilliant Design Observer site. I mean, what’s not to like about Goldenbess or Barry the pooch? Cuteness aside, their simplicity and style really connect and tell a nice, authentic tale.

Perhaps most fascinating was the Moonraker Cheese Spread. Obviously, the brand predates one of James Bond’s darkest hours so we set out to find more. A great little story: http://tiny.cc/srr55 
http://www.designobserver.com/ 

EXIT FILMS/MOJO – Burn docos

For anyone who likes watching clips of people doing crazy things, the Mojo and Exit films collaboration for Coke Burn is well worth a look.

The three short films, ‘Ride’ (directed by Garth Davis), ‘Playground’ (directed by Glendyn Ivin) and ‘Peepshow’ (directed by Jonathan Hill) were produced in the middle of 2010, and have been wining a string of awards and accolades ever since. They were shot in documentary style on a budget but despite this they all have a beautiful cinematography and story telling.  ’Ride’, features skateboarders literally on fire in Mexico, Playground features a hip hop artist ‘Lyrical God’ banging pens to create beats and ‘Peepshow’ features crazy female snowboarders and lots of crashes. 

www.mojothings.com

Christmas around the corner

With Christmas around the corner and everyone rushing around to send out Christmas cards, why not consider sending an personalise e-card to: 1) be environmentally friend, 2) save time and money from queuing up at the post office for stamps & 3) spread some good cheer along the way.

One fun ecard website which I’ve come across, that also links with facebook is jibjab.com

Here is on the finish products I’ve recently received: http://sendables.jibjab.com/view/kRUZhAvBqHPu0TXt?cmpid=jj_fb_friend_holidays
Tip: Make sure your volume isn’t turned up too high, Enjoy! 

Elegant packaging

Love, love, love this simple and elegant packaging design for Babees honey. The design is beautifully completed by the swing tags that hang off the edge of the jar like the wings of the bee… just had one of those ‘I wish I’d thought of that’ moments!