Posts Tagged ‘design-spotlight’
Wow Factor: Antique Meets Modern Chic
This hotel is simply beautiful. Small artisan details abound at each turn, such as wood carvings, paneled ceilings, alcoves containing Roman busts, and stained glass doors. The interior design fuses traditional and contemporary design elements perfectly, creating a stylish interior space inside a former 18th century church vestry. The fashionable interiors combine the best of classic Andalusian design, including decorative painted tilework and rooms surrounding a multi-story courtyard accented by a Moorish fountain. One of a kind antique furniture, restored with modern fabrics and bold accents, can be found throughout. The staff is friendly and helpful, and with only 25 rooms, the hotel has a cozy, boutique feel.
Verdict: Fabulous!
Moroccan design meets modern luxury at Sofitel Fes Palais Jamai. The hotel is filled with corridors accented by colorful stained glass windows and Moroccan lanterns that give off dancing patterns of light. French-inspired chandeliers showcase high artisan-crafted ceilings, and much of the furniture features carved gold accents and deep jewel tones. Abundant tile and woodwork fill the halls of this distinguished hotel, which used to be a palace, dating back to 1879.
Take a moment to prepare yourself because what you’re about to read may shock you, may confound you, may make you glad you’re not reading this out loud to your children.
The Wii remote is not a golf club.
I know, many of us wish that wasn’t true, but no matter how much the Tiger Woods PGA Tour PR team might tell you it is, the small rectangular controller is not. Attempting to recreate your golf grip and swing is almost futile, but that doesn’t stop die-hard golfers from trying. However, now there’s an alternative: the Chicken Stick. What may in fact be the adorable love child of a 9iron and the Nintendo Wii, the Chicken Stick, made by the company Bad Chicken, is a virtual golfer’s dream come true.
The Chicken Stick takes the upper half of a golf club (complete with Golf Pride grip and True Temper® shaft) and grafts on a sturdy holder for the Wii remote. Combined with the Wii and Tiger Woods PGA Tour Golf, it offers the promise of allowing the player to bring their real world swing to the virtual course. But is it too good to be true?
Being obsessed with golf, I had to try it out. I had spent several weeks coming up with the best way to hold the remote that let me somewhat recreate my golf grip, but it still wasn’t the same. But after unboxing the Chicken Stick and playing 18 virtual holes, there is no doubt about it, the Chicken Stick does add an unbelievable level of realism to Tiger Woods PGA Tour golf, second only to having a true golf simulator.
I enjoyed the experience of taking a full grip and swinging the club as I played St. Andrews or Torrey Pines, so much so that now I can’t imagine playing the game without it. I’m dependent upon the ‘Stick and in my house it’s become a mandatory accessory.
But the question remains: is it worth the steep $40 price tag? Truthfully, that depends upon your level of obsession. For the casual player, probably not. But for anyone on the fence about purchasing one who has dreamed of having a driving range in their living room complete with a launch monitor detailing your face angle, swing plane, and launch angle, it’s worth every penny.
Having worked as a product designer, I was intrigued by both the concept and execution of the Chicken Stick. I had the chance to interview Bad Chicken co-founder Jordan Brandt about his design process, what it was like designing the Chicken Stick, what design hurdles had to be overcome, and what’s in store for the future.
For something a little different, go to the following site and put in your home address to view your own custom music video created using google satellite imagery and your own computer drawn messages…
Croatian graphic designer Robert Butkovic created 100 logos in 100 days. Yes, 100 days! How, you may wonder? Well his only rule was that each logo was completed in under 100 minutes. He completed his goal this January and you can see the logos HERE.
These unique graphics were created by SHOTOPOP, a group of graphic and interactive designers based in London.
[ via Shotopop ]
I’m diggin’ Carl Kleiner’s provocative photography installations. I love how his edgy humor shines through distinctly with each piece, and how he incorporates graphic elements and traditionally flat shapes into a 3-dimensional plane.
[ via Carl Kleiner ]
These stunning photographs are the recent work of German photographer Hans Silvester. They feature the Surma and Mursi people of the Omo Valley in southern Ethiopia, and their unique body painting. Silvester has a book out, Natural Fashion: Tribal Decoration from Africa, showcasing his tribal photography.
Read more about Hans Silvester
[ via dailymail.co.uk ]
Los Angeles native Jeff Nishinaka is a paper crafting genius, having worked in paper for the last 28 years. His impressive paper sculptures appear in a wide array of commercial work for clients such as Bloomingdale’s, Visa, Penn State University, Paramount Pictures, Coca-Cola, Mattel, Sprint, and the Peninsula Hotel.
“I have always wanted to be a painter, but while studying illustration at Art Center, I was given assignments in both a graphic design and fashion drawing class at the same time to experiment in different mediums, one of them being paper. That was my ‘Ah-ha!’ moment. I quickly developed a feel for working with paper. From then on, I began experimenting with different papers, finding ways to shape, bend, and round edges on it. I wanted to manipulate paper in the least invasive way, to keep the integrity and feel of it. Paper to me is a living, breathing thing that has a life of it’s own. I just try to redirect that energy into something that feels animated and alive.”—Jeff Nishinaka
[ via jeffnishinaka.com and papercrave.com ]
The Octonauts are a series of beautifully illustrated children’s books filled with the most adorable, round underwater characters, and fantastical ocean imagery. The brainchild of Vicki Wong and Michael Murphy, aka Meomi, the Octonauts website is super cute as well, with animated sea creatures and fun “octogoodies” like coloring pages and desktop wallpapers.
