Tuesday, 24 September 2013

Brand New School creates elegant elegiac spot for 9/11 Memorial

By Digital Arts Staff on September 11, 2013

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Cities transformed by virtual graffiti in Tiger Translate artworks

Photographers and illustrators work together to turn streets into urban art galleries

Author: Photographers and illustrators work together to turn streets into urban art galleries

Photographers and illustrators collaborate to create virtual graffiti in the streets of cities, as part of Tiger Translate's 'Streets' themed year.

Tiger Beer's Tiger Translate, a global initiative that aims to bring artists from the East and West together, has commissioned 10 photographers and 10 illustrators to work together to splash virtual graffiti throughout cities.

As part of Tiger's 'Streets' themed year, which it explains is designed to "celebrate the energy that infuses the streets of Asian cities and transforms them into urban art galleries," participating photographers first captured a photo of a street in their city. Illustrators then transformed those photographs by creating digital artworks over the original image.

The artwork created has been brought to life in a three-minute animation, too, which you can view here.

Tiger Translate's 'Streets' theme has already been travelling around the world, with exhibitions held in Dubai, Mongolia and more.

Use the slideshow controls above and right to see the original photographs and how they were transformed by digital graffiti.

Right: Manila, Philippines. Photographer - Indrau Manahan. Illustrator - Jason Levesque

Photographers and illustrators collaborate to create virtual graffiti in the streets of cities, as part of Tiger Translate's 'Streets' themed year.

Tiger Beer's Tiger Translate, a global initiative that aims to bring artists from the East and West together, has commissioned 10 photographers and 10 illustrators to work together to splash virtual graffiti throughout cities.

As part of Tiger's 'Streets' themed year, which it explains is designed to "celebrate the energy that infuses the streets of Asian cities and transforms them into urban art galleries," participating photographers first captured a photo of a street in their city. Illustrators then transformed those photographs by creating digital artworks over the original image.

The artwork created has been brought to life in a three-minute animation, too, which you can view here.

Tiger Translate's 'Streets' theme has already been travelling around the world, with exhibitions held in Dubai, Mongolia and more.

Use the slideshow controls above and right to see the original photographs and how they were transformed by digital graffiti.

Right: Manila, Philippines. Photographer - Indrau Manahan. Illustrator - Jason Levesque

Singapore

Photographer – Farah Hanna

"Set against Singapore’s developed landscape, a traditional shophouse stands out with its resilience to defy the changes happening around it. Its facade set against a bustling modern backdrop is a perfect representation of the quickly developing city."

See next slide for graffiti version.

Illustrator – Oki-Chu

"Gold Rush: Asian chaos and New World Order."

Ulan Bator, Mongolia

Photographer – Mojoko

"Ulan Bator, the largest city in Mongolia is the melting pot of old plus new. With traditional architecture living side by side next to newly built skyscrapers, Ulan Bator is fast becoming the streets of the future."

Illustrator – Alelx Gordo

"After checking among the Internet’s infinite wisdom, I found out that the edelweiss is a very popular flower in Mongolia so I added this motif in the artwork."

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Photographer – Paullus Stanlunas

"A view of one of the few remaining colonial buildings scattered around Kuala Lumpur’s Chinatown. Many have become blank canvavses for youth to voice social opinions. In the background, the buildings are towering, pushing forward the redevelopment of the new, cutting-edge Kuala Lumpur."

Illustrator – Eakkarlak S.

"This artwork was inspired by many factors such as the ingredients contained in Tiger beer, party lifestyle, music and creativity. This story is about a tiger that jumped into the sea and transformed its blue stripes into many inspirational things and change its surroundings."

Auckland, New Zealand

Photographer - Adam Wouldes

Illustrator - Nick Tearle

Bangkok, Thailand

Photographer - Prasit Limprasatirakit

Illustrator - Rizki Katamsi

Hanoi, Vietnam

Photographer - Phoung Ha

Illustrator - Russell Ong

Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Photographer - Borky Perida

Illustrator - Vexta

Seoul, South Korea

Photographer - Jun-Seok

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Bram Vanhaeren illustrates his heroes in new digital portrait series

Artist and Digital Arts contributor Bram Vanhaeren has created a series of portraits of his heroes as part of a new project.

Author: Artist and Digital Arts contributor Bram Vanhaeren has created a series of portraits of his heroes as part of a new project.

Artist and Digital Arts contributor Bram Vanhaeren has created a series of portraits of his heroes as part of a new project.

We caught up with Bram to find out more about the series, titled On The Wall, how he chooses his heroes and the creative process behind the portraits.

DA: Why did you want to do this project?

BV: "After I graduated few months ago, I lost interest in illustrating and art in general. Then few weeks ago, the joy of illustrating took me by surprise and I started illustrating some of my heroes. I was drawing people I look up or athletes from my childhood that took my breath away with their achievements.

"Everything came together so I continued drawing people that inspire me and I like. This way I could share my appreciation for these people with my friends and start a conversation about their heroes."

DA: Tell us a bit about the creative process behind the pieces, from finding references to working them up in a coherent style.

BV: "Most of the time I have a clear idea of who they are and what they represent. I would like to see this same energy in the portrait. It can be in their eyes, their focus, sometimes their movement, and their actions that makes a great portrait.

"So I look up for a great shot, then I start drawing with the Pencil tool in Adobe Illustrator with my mouse (I can't work with tablets). In simple black, I start with the most important details and build the rest around that. Once my black and white illustration is done I start colouring in Adobe Photoshop and add the correct energetic feel to the portraits.

"Once I get that "yes, this is great" feeling, I'm done and share it with my friends."

Use the slideshow controls above and right to see more of Bram's portraits and to find out more about how he created them.

Right: Michael Johnson

Artist and Digital Arts contributor Bram Vanhaeren has created a series of portraits of his heroes as part of a new project.

We caught up with Bram to find out more about the series, titled On The Wall, how he chooses his heroes and the creative process behind the portraits.

DA: Why did you want to do this project?

BV: "After I graduated few months ago, I lost interest in illustrating and art in general. Then few weeks ago, the joy of illustrating took me by surprise and I started illustrating some of my heroes. I was drawing people I look up or athletes from my childhood that took my breath away with their achievements.

"Everything came together so I continued drawing people that inspire me and I like. This way I could share my appreciation for these people with my friends and start a conversation about their heroes."

DA: Tell us a bit about the creative process behind the pieces, from finding references to working them up in a coherent style.

BV: "Most of the time I have a clear idea of who they are and what they represent. I would like to see this same energy in the portrait. It can be in their eyes, their focus, sometimes their movement, and their actions that makes a great portrait.

"So I look up for a great shot, then I start drawing with the Pencil tool in Adobe Illustrator with my mouse (I can't work with tablets). In simple black, I start with the most important details and build the rest around that. Once my black and white illustration is done I start colouring in Adobe Photoshop and add the correct energetic feel to the portraits.

"Once I get that "yes, this is great" feeling, I'm done and share it with my friends."

Use the slideshow controls above and right to see more of Bram's portraits and to find out more about how he created them.

Right: Michael Johnson

DA: How would you sum up your heroes? Is there a single defining characteristic that unites them?

BV: "In the beginning I was really focused on athletes that inspired me when I was a kid, such as Michael Johnson. I started athletics when I was 5 years old, together with my two brothers. Michael Johnson was a figure that really impressed me when I was young.

"From there it was very simple to continue and illustrate my heroes. They had an impact on who I am as an athlete and as a person."

DA: How did you choose who to do first?

BV: "In the beginning I just randomly picked athletes that inspire me. I have a long list actually. Later on I asked for suggestions via social media."

Right: Steve Jobs

DA: In general, how important is it for creatives to look up to heroes to inspire them and drive them creatively and professionally?

BV: "For me it reminds me the fact everyone is continually working on their style, their personality. They remind me that you are powerful beyond measure and inspire you to be who you are and be better every single day."

DA: For someone to be a 'hero', do you need to look up to them personally as well as their works/actions in the professional world?

BV: "I believe so. My heroes are not only inspiring in what they do professionally, but also as people in general. They have this X-factor that grabs your attention and makes you want to do something you thought you could never do."

Right: Bo Jackson

DA: As a wider point, do we have to respect a creative personally to respect their work? And conversely, if they are morally abhorrent – such as Eric Gill – should we ignore their works?

BV: "For me, I can't support someone or show appreciations for their work if they have a disgusting personality – I know this is subjective. I will be drawing Will Smith later today, because he is amazing for so many reasons. If he kills someone tomorrow, my respect will slip away in seconds."

Right: Michael Jordan

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Quark finally releases QuarkXPress 10

Quark released the full details of QuarkXPress 10 back in July with a view to release the software in August, but has now finally made the new version of its graphic design and page layout software available to buy. QuarkXPress 10 includes Retina display support, Quark's new Xenon Graphics Engine and more than 50 other new features.

With QuarkXPress 10, Quark has migrated the Mac version of software to Apple's Cocoa programming language. This means that QuarkXPress 10 should have better performance, and be able to leverage the latest OS X features including the MacBook Pro's Retina display. It should also be able to support OS X updates as they arrive.

Vector rendering should include much finer detail without impeding performance says Quark, allowing more accurate represention in QuarkXpress 10 (right) over QuarkXpress 9 (left).

Quark's new Xenon Graphics Engine has been implemented in QuarkXPress 10, allowing better rendering of both vector files (above) and bitmaps including PDFs, Photoshop PSDs and TIFFs, with an Adaptive Resolution feature to display the best possible onscreen resolution without compromising performance.

QuarkXPress 10 has a new look too, with palette enhancements, the ability to be used in full screen mode, new navigation elements and a measurements palette.

There's now a QR code create within QuarkXPress 10, and every edition of the software supports East Asian typography too.

When it comes to workflow improvements, Quark has added the ability to import pictures and hyperlinks from Microsoft Word, a new PDF Pass-Through Transparency feature, layers enhancements, a print preview, the option to highlight missing fonts, tool enhancements and more. For the full list of enhancements, click here.

QuarkXPress 10 is available for £799 (excluding VAT) for the full version, or £299 for those who already own QuarkXPress 8 or QuarkXPress 9. You can buy yours here. It's be a perpetual licence with no subscription necessary, and supports OS X Lion 10.7 or later, and will support OS X Mavericks when it is launched by Apple later this year. It also supports Windows 7 or later.


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She Was Only showcases the future of online music site design

London-based studio She Was Only has designed a new online magazine that aims to give readers a user experience that feels as close to print as possible.

The website, designed for music magazine Middle 8, features big images and subtle animations within a linear navigation system that imitates real-life page-turning in a smooth and satisfying style.

It's responsive, and works with gestures on iPad, too, enabling readers to swipe back and forth through the pages of the magazine.

We caught up with She Was Only's Cai Griffith to find out how the studio landed the project, and how they went about designing the experience, both for the reader and the content producer.

DA: Tell us a bit about She Was Only

CG: She Was Only is a small design studio based in East London, specialising in Graphic Design & Art Direction. I've been working with my two partners, Chris Vickers and Craig Scott, since graduating and we have been an official studio since we set up the company in October 2012.

We started out pitching ourselves as a traditional print designers, which is still the work we enjoy the most, but now purposefully call ourselves a general 'design studio' as we have enjoyed the variety of work we've done for magazine and book design, web design, apps, packaging and exhibitions.

No matter the format or medium, the work we produce is fuelled by a collective obsession with the practices of modernism. We strive to deliver concise and bespoke responses to client briefs, filtering out distraction to do more with less.

DA: How did you get the gig on Middle 8?

CG: Middle 8 is the sister company of soundhalo, a new live music platform which is a client of Boat Studio, run by Davey and Erin Spens. We collaborate regularly with Boat on web projects.

Erin is the editor of Middle 8 and we jumped at the opportunity to be the guys to put it together. The relationship we already had with Erin played a big role in how the back end of the website was developed. We were able to work with her from early on in the process to make sure that the adding and publishing content was as smooth as possible.

The design of Middle 8 magazine allows readers to click left or right to change page. Each page features a scrollable article, a gallery or a video.

DA: What's the ethos behind the online magazine?

CG: We are still big believers in print, because somehow online magazines don't have that certain feel and continuous flow of content you get from printed magazines.

This was what we were trying to achieve with Middle 8, presenting great content on the subject of live music, whilst maintaining an experience as close as possible to the printed magazine.

DA: Tell us about how you've designed the UX and user journey for the site

CG: First, we thought about the journey of the, turning pages right to explore through the content, left to go back etc. It is this linear journey, navigating from page one through to the end, that we tried to maintain and develop in to the online reading experience, whilst keeping it aesthetically pleasing and easy to navigate.

We didn't want the site to feel too 'gimmicky', with unnecessary page turn animations etc., just simple left/right navigation and clean transitions.

This was also carried through to the iPad, allowing users to ditch tedious tapping and enjoy the magazine with easy swipes and gestures to navigate.

The goal was to not over crowd the site with fiddly menus and unneeded elements, but to really let the content speak for itself and allow users to put as little thought as possible in to exploring the stories.

DA: There are some really nice touches to the design, such as the word count and reading time. What was the thinking behind these?

CG: These little flourishes are mainly down to our developer Jonny Thaw, who we gave some freedom to explore the site after we had nailed the general build and layout of the magazine. He tested the site and added any extra touches that he thought might be helpful.

This process of testing and meant that Jonny could really get his head into the site from a users point of view, removing any unnecessary hang-overs from the build and adding in little tricks that would dramatically reduce loading times.

The reading time is a neat little feature that uses the average adult word-per-minute reading speed to calculate a time based on the article's content. We've had some great feedback to say that this small feature was a welcome addition to people reading on iPad on the tube, for example.

DA: How do you design a CMS that allows editors to create stories like these? How do you give them the freedom to design without letting them break away from the overall design of the site?

CG: Magazines are all about the content. So giving the editors the freedom to layout the articles themselves was an essential feature, although breaking the design was a worry.

She Was Only designed the website's CMS to give editors the freedom to lay out articles without breaking the design.

We have put certain limitations in to place to try and minimise this as much as possible, including  'safe zones' and minimum/maximum text sizes.

We wanted to make the overall experience of putting together an article like starting with a blank canvas, then getting a suite of tools that can be used to construct an article based on the content of the story.

I suppose instead of providing templates for the users to populate, we are giving them the freedom to create their own, enabling the editors to lay out and build an article whilst viewing it as if it were live.

This way of building the content also forces each user to actively consider the visual side of the website and how the content will look to the consumer, in real time as the article is put together.

DA: What are you working on next?

CG: We are currently working on the launch of Intern Magazine, issue one of which will be available in the coming months, along with a couple of branding projects for start-ups and an existing architectural/interior design company. We're also working on an exciting project for UAL. Check the site soon!

And of course, we're working on the next issue of Middle8, which has some great stories lined up and a few new features that we will be launching to make the reading experience even better.


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Inside iOS 7's design changes

iOS 7 is nothing less than a full-fledged overhaul of the operating system's look and feel, while maintaining the interface that makes the device so easy to use.

"Whether you love or hate the new design – or fall somewhere in between – it's going to require an adjustment."

iOS has followed more or less the same design blueprint since its introduction in 2007, albeit with refinements along the way. But what we see in iOS 7 is nothing less than a full-fledged overhaul of the operating system's look and feel, while maintaining the interface that makes the device so easy to use.

From the lock screen to the Settings app, almost nothing has gone untouched visually in iOS 7. Apple has banished skeuomorphism. Instead, we get a straightforward, lightweight interface with an emphasis on thin, space-saving text and high contrast.

Gone, for the most part, are richly textured icons; in are simple schematic-like designs with little shading and depth. Likewise, either text or icons have replaced buttons in most places. The remaining buttons are generally very simple – for instance, a circular border with text in it.

Whether you love or hate the new design – or fall somewhere in between – it's going to require an adjustment.

While the familiar iOS lock screen has retained the same key elements in iOS 7, Apple has given it a thorough makeover.

Whereas previously whatever image you chose to adorn your lock screen appeared as a letterboxed image between the clock and the unlock slider, your wallpaper now fills the screen, personalizing your device more than ever. A clock with the current date appears at the top, along with a row of icons for signal strength, carrier, Wi-Fi, battery life, and more.

Also at the top is a handle for Notification Center, which you can swipe down to access the feature. You can swipe a mirroring handle at the bottom upward for access to iOS 7's new Control Center. (You control lock-screen access to these items from Settings > Notification Center and Settings > Control Center, respectively.)

When you swipe to unlock your iOS device, you can do so from anywhere on the lock screen – if notifications are present and you swipe one, it indents slightly, and the device unlocks into the app of your choice.

If you have a passcode enabled, when you swipe to the right you're taken to a screen with a numeric keypad (or, in the case of an alphanumeric passcode, a keyboard), in which you can enter your passcode.

At the right is a Delete button for removing a character if you type the wrong one, and (if you're using an iPhone) at the bottom left is an Emergency button, which gives you access to a phone keypad in case you need to make an emergency call.

When media is playing, media controls replace the clock at the top of the lock screen (a small clock then appears in the menu bar).

The media players include a play progress bar, complete with a movable playhead; the name of the track, artist, and album; play/pause, previous track, and next track buttons; and a volume slider.

You can also still access the camera from the lock screen by swiping upward on the camera icon in the bottom right corner.

Despite the many changes to iOS 7, the home screen will still look pretty familiar to most users, albeit with a few minor changes.

The grid of icons you know and love is still present, though many of the icons have taken on a newer, simpler look. Likewise, the dock at the bottom of the screen is now flat and translucent, in contrast to the 3D-styled shelf of iOS 6.

If you're trying to swipe right from the home screen to access Spotlight – to no avail – you'll discover that it no longer lives on a separate screen. Rather, you summon Spotlight by touching anywhere on the home screen (not on app icons), and then dragging down.

Spotlight features a new look, but still delineates by category (apps, emails, events, messages, and so forth), and tapping any result will launch the appropriate app. To dismiss Spotlight, either tap the Cancel button in the top right, tap somewhere outside the list of search results, or press the Home button.

Folders have taken on a different look as well: Rather than resembling linen-backed drawers, they're now translucent white icons. As before, they show off the icons of the apps they contain. And though each folder screen contains just nine apps, instead of the 12 (or, on the iPad, 20) they used to hold, you can now have multiple screens within a folder, accessible via swiping.

App icons themselves get a couple new looks: When they're updating (which they now do automatically in the background, so you may not see this much), they appear with a circular progress bar overlaid on the icon. And new apps you've downloaded but not yet launched have a blue dot next to them, instead of the New banner of iOS 6.

One of the design changes Apple stressed when unveiling iOS 7 was the inclusion of distinct layers. Your wallpaper, for example, lies behind the icons on your Home or Lock screen, and if you tilt your device, you'll see it shift slightly, as though it's farther away. But if you don't care for that look, it's easy enough to turn off in Settings > General > Accessibility > Reduce Motion.

There are also layers that live on top of your icons, specifically the slide-out panels for Notification Center and Control Center. In both cases, you'll notice that you can see through those panes, getting a blurred frosted-glass look at what lies behind. You can deactivate that option too in the Accessibility section of Settings, by enabling the Reduce Contrast option.

Both the transparency and the layered approach are designed to give you a clearer view of where things are in the operating system.

That approach extends to gestures as well. For possibly the first time since introducing iOS, Apple has added a new gesture: Swipe to the right to go back or up a level. You can use this gesture in Safari, Mail, Settings, and other apps.


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Nuke 8 offers better timeline, colour and 3D tools

The Foundry has announced that Nuke 8 will ship by the end of 2013.

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