Category Archives: Design

Desktopography is a website that has a collection of desktop wallpapers:

Desktopography is an exhibition, a showcase of nature themed desktop wallpapers created by designers worldwide.

Designers spend around 90% of their waking life in front of a computer so the most appealing genre for a wallpaper would be one that has beautiful design mixed with the all important aspect of being outdoors. This year we present over 40 new desktop wallpapers for you to display and enjoy.

They do have some really beautiful, high resolution pictures. Some of which perhaps are not quite suitable as desktop as much as just beautiful scenes to look at (I can’t use desktop backgrounds that are too distracting for me to find my icons). What I like most, however, about this website, is their title. A word that succinctly and elegantly summarizes their page: Desktop, photography, topography, all in one word. Whee!

When crop circles were first created, many speculated supernatural origins of these complex patterns that seem to magically find themselves in vast fields. With the open admission of some of the original crop circle creators, however, it has taken on a different light. Some take it as a pure art form, challenging themselves to create more and more elaborate patterns, often based on sacred geometries, fractals and mathematical proportions. It didn’t take long till crop circles  were first imbued with commercial values (Google Earth sure help to motivate that!) – for instance, the Firefox crop circle that I blogged about some months back.

The above picture actually shows the development of a font inspired by the artform of crop-circles – what with the chain of circles of increasing radii, etc. – and it’s commissioned by the grand daddy of the artworks’ canvas: Quaker Oats. Pretty interesting I’d say – reminds me of a Flash-based game that became popular recently too – Flow.

The creators of the font here.

The Michelin Man, aka Bibendum, has just been recently overhauled to give a refreshed image to the company – according to Thierry Rudolph, Michelin’s head of Marketing:

We’ve refreshed him because he’s a key asset for us. We’ve slimmed him down because it shows the evolution of people and is a way of keeping up with changes in society. He demonstrates the evolution of society but also the evolution of the brand and the world we live in.

That statement is rather interesting in its irony: while the society’s definitely getting more obese by all indicators, the ideals and aspiration of the society heads the opposite direction – a healthier, slimmer one. In the same vein of irony lies products like McDonald’s, Diet Coke etc: while they continue to feed the growing trend of obesity, the power of marketing concocts the bluff that these products help to reach the consumer’s ideal of being slim and healthy. And that’s where Michelin heading too – mirroring the society’s aspiration rather than reality.

It’s also pretty interesting to see the evolution of the Michelin Man, which has continuously evolved, mirroring the changing landscapes of the society. Starting off as a proud, cigar-smoking, leather-boots wearing persona, the Michelin Man then was one of aristocrat – only the richest could afford wheels, even if it’s just bicycle wheels. The same persona continues even as cars were developed – the tire on his bodies are still slim (reflecting the tire dimensions then).

As automobile develops to become a mass-market item rather than luxury, the Bibendum was toned down to be much friendlier, as it put on massive weight around its tummy to mirror the girth of the tyres. And now it needs to slim down and cut out its flab due to the society’s health concerns. I wonder what’d be next – for example, if the airless tyres (known as tweels, incidentally developed by Michelin) were popularized – will he be left to just bones?

[see more of the Bibendum’s history here]

**** Addendum ****

In response to Hann’s comment about KFC’s Colonel Sanders losing weight – well they’ve just introduced their new logo (to my dislike), and it does seem like some of the changes are similar in spirit to Michelin’s:

Colonel Sanders has discarded his clean white suit for a more blue-collared apron (Apron! Sensitive New Age Guy we have here?) outfit – now he resembles the person serving your fried chicken rather than a rich wealthy white colonial master or something. He’s definitely gotten his Botox jab, looking a lot younger now. Yup, and like Michelin Man, he’s definitely slimmer now.

The computer has evolved and improved a tremendously long way since the green-and-black monochrome era, but your attention span and concentration  has not. At least that’s the premise of this interesting software called “WriteRoom” by Hog Bay Software.

For Mac users who enjoy the simplicity of a typewriter, but live in the digital world. WriteRoom is a full-screen, distraction-free writing environment. Unlike the cluttered word processors you’re used to, WriteRoom is just about you and your text. Requires Mac OS X 10.4 or later.

They have basically simplified the  interface of the word processor to basically nothing except the text – so you don’t get distracted by your email, instant messaging or what have you. You can even take out parts of text from a Word document, and edit them in WriteRoom instead. When you’re done, you can close it and the program automatically ports it back to the original file.

Ironically, it requires MacOS 10.4 or later to run. But, for all you Dan Brown and Rowling wannabes, maybe shelling $24.95 for what is essentially simply a full-screen notepad is a worthy investment: after all, in the case that you DO sit down AND are able to concentrate because of this little software, AND if your writing is so great, AND if there’s a publisher who thinks the same, AND if your books sell – you may just get your investment returned many times over.

This is for those of you who’re into graphics and sneakers – and are in Singapore! Runner’s World is hosting a design competition for the Tiger –

DETAILS

1. Shoes available at: StarThreeSixty – Wheelock Place #02-08; LeftFoot – Far East Plaza #03-98; Limited Edition Vault – The Heeren #03-12. Submission of customized shoes only at StarThreeSixty.
2. Last day of submission 10th Feb 07.
3. Shoes to be purchased at S$149. Full refund after submission of entries.
4. Selected entries will be awarded an Onitsuka Tiger product hamper and in the running for the Top 3 prizes.
5. Top 3 winners will be announced at event at zouk on Friday, 23rd Feb 07.
6. Runner’s World Pte Ltd reserves all rights to the submitted entries.
7. 1st Prize: $1000 + S$500 Onitsuka Vouchers; 2nd Prize – S$500 cash + S$300 Onitsuka Tiger Voucher; 3rd Prize – S$300 cash + S$200 Onitsuka Tiger Voucher.

This reminded me of a time when I was in Milan – there was a similar competition by Havaianas – to turn their trademark slippers into works of art. A group of us each took the blank white slippers, while concocting the things we can do to them. In the end, only one of us submitted though – procrastination got the better of us. Which is probably why Rule 3 exists.

On My Desk has a great collection of table-tops and work studio of designers, artist or creative professionals – some of them look really cool and inspiring – it’s almost like the desk itself is a reason to be a creative professional. And I turn to look at my drab, white, boring, ugly desk… and SIGH.