Mundi Design Studios won an Interactive Media Design Review award for this Flash-driven presentation of graphic design basics in five modules: Introduction to Design, Color Theory, Composition & Layout, Perspective, and Typography. Using cool, soft-spoken colors, well-conceived outlining and navigation, and articulate written descriptions and definitions, this tutorial succeeds in the elusive art of teaching by example.
The Rock and Roll Hall of Shame
Why do singers try to act? Why do actors try to sing? We'll never know. But we do know what Joe Pesci singing "Got To Get You Into My Life" sounds like, thanks to this disturbing but immensely entertaining collection of recordings. Leonard Nimoy croaks "Proud Mary." Phyllis Diller bleats "Satisfaction." Andy Griffth bawls "House of the Rising Sun." And Shatner shrieks... well, Shatner shrieks everything. You have to hear it to believe it. Tip: Follow the Celebrity Outtakes link for more on-air shenanigans, including Linda McCartney's backup vocals to "Hey Jude."
Soulbath.com presents this intriguing exhibition of banner ad art -- Band-Aid-sized strips of cutting-edge pixels that use advanced multimedia and animation techniques to explore life, the universe, and the state of the Web. Banners are displayed along four virtual walls of a multi-level, 3D museum-like structure. On a first visit to the gallery, we enjoyed Ed Burton's whirling polygons, Curt Cloninger's Turtle, and Chris McDermott's boundary-bursting explosion of triangles.
Here's a web catalog of text, images, and audio segments describing the evolution of baroque style in churches and chapels, fountains and plazas, as well as in military, commercial, and residential construction throughout Europe. It's a companion to the National Gallery of Art's exhibit of "Architecture in Europe from 1600-1750." At the heart of the show is a collection of 27 surviving architectural models from the period. The web site features in-depth studies of Bernini's Four Rivers Fountain in Rome, the Abbey Church of St. Gall in Switzerland, Amsterdam's Town Hall, and Plymouth's Eddystone Lighthouse. A must-see for students and aficionados of the baroque.
The Orphanage of Cast-Off Mascots
James Lileks' ever-expanding and entertaining home page celebrates the campy outrageousness of mid-twentieth century popular culture. He's fascinated by vintage print advertising and commercial art from the forties and fifties. In this compilation, Lileks creates a sanctuary for long-lost mascots of dubious and defunct products like the Swift'ning Bland Lard Man, Mr. & Mrs. Corn Soya (the Nick and Nora Charles of the shredded cereal set), Mr. Coffee Nerves (think bo-jangled), and Ima Wantad. And Lileks seems to be serious about offering these icon "wannabes" for adoption.
Don McLaughlin displays the highlights of his vast collection of picture sleeves, the paper covers of 7" 45 RPM single records. After 20 years of collecting, Mr. McLaughlin is the proud owner of over 9,000 sleeves, from the Avons to Barry Williams (Greg from The Brady Bunch). And Mr McLaughlin has also accomplished another astounding feat: he uses pop-up windows that don't suck! Click on the thumbnails for "Donny" by the Teen Queens or "Rock and Roll Rag" by the Ink Spots to view splendid details of these minor masterpieces of cover art. Check the links page for more great record-collection resources.
Ten years ago, a RISDI art student named Shepard Fairey found a picture of Andre The Giant while teaching a friend how to make cut-paper stencils, and the rest is history. "Andre The Giant Has A Posse" stickers have been spotted from Cleveland to Kuala Lumpur, and Fairey has gone on to exhibit at galleries around the world. His official site features plenty of articles about the phenomenon, recent poster and sticker designs, and the official Andre Manifesto: "Many stickers have been peeled down by people who were annoyed by them, considering them an eye sore and an act of petty vandalism, which is ironic considering the number of commercial graphic images everyone in American society is assaulted with daily."
Every t-shirt tells a story, and Wellesly grad turned Silicon Valley techie Lilly Tao has several. This isn't just a useless catalogue of freebie shirts, "It is more of a collection of anecdotes inspired by an item of clothing that may seem lowly and utilitarian, but which can carry as much of a weighty remembrance to me as the smell of baking bread." Drift downstream with Lilly on a pleasant, meandering river of nostalgia: the college band, the scrappy start-up, the multinational biotech firm.