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Hello Inspiration

Hello Inspiration is a collection of daily internet links. No text, no opinionated rants just image links to the best of web. The blog is open to the public, simply email Helloinspiration@gmail.com for an invite. Check it out at Hello Inspiration

Tight Knit Crew

For the last couple of years, Chicagoan's have been delighted by the public crochet works of the Micro-Fiber Militia in the form of wonderful Crochet Graffiti covering bike racks, road signs and light posts. Now comes a video of what must be one of the largest pieces of public Crochet. A giant water tower cozy in New York City.

Business Cogs

The incredible geared business card designs of Adam Mayer. Still in prototype development, Mayer's designs allow us to catch a glimpse into the future of business card design. Digital cards perhaps?

via Unique Business Cards.

Trick 17 Best Picture

Intervelometer from Team DAK just won 'Best Picture' at the 2nd Annual Trick 17 Stop Motion Animation contest. Teams were given 52 hours to create a 1-3 minute film. Team DAK is made up of Deniz Merdanogullari, Aparna Kapur and Kunal Sen.

Graffiti 2.0

For the last couple of years, Italian graffiti artist, Flippo Minelli has made people acutely aware of the technology gap between 2.0 nations and the third world. Though the Internet has provided an extraordinary platform for the exchange of ideas, information and social exchange, it has broadened the gap between technological societies and those that remain "offline".

"The idealization connected with these experiences provokes a small-but-important detach of the perception of reality and what i want to do by writing the names of anything connected with the 2.0 life we are living in the slums of the third world is to point out the gap between the reality we still live in and the ephemeral world of technologies."

via Wooster Collective

The Mysterious Dinner Napkin

I found a photograph of this brilliant little napkin on the contents page of The Dinner Jacket Magazine. A request to The Dinner Jacket for Art/Writer credits for the piece have not yet been returned but I will post them here as soon as I find out. If you know anything about the piece please email me!

Theo Jansen

Theo Jansen's amazingly creepy mechanical creatures were unveiled at last year's Ted conference in Monterey California.

"Since 1990 I have been occupied creating new forms of life. Not pollen or seeds but plastic yellow tubes are used as the basic material of this new nature. I make skeletons that are able to walk on the wind, so they don’t have to eat." Over time, these skeletons have become increasingly better at surviving the elements such as storms and water and eventually I want to put these animals out in herds on the beaches, so they will live their own lives.
-Theo Jansen

via Wooster Collective.

Monday Encouragement

BOOOOOOM! has just launched a new project called Free Encouragement. Simply send your message of encouragement to encouragement@booooooom.com. and see it displayed here after Dec. 5th or just look through the dozens of already uploaded messages and start feeling better.

Operation Homecoming

An animated sequence based on U.S. Army Specialist Colby Buzzell's story, part of the film Operation Homecoming: Writing the Wartime Experience. Animation by Christopher Koelle, Portland Studios, Inc. Operation Homecoming is a unique documentary that explores the firsthand accounts of American soldiers through their own words and is part of PBS's America at a Crossroads series.

Thanks Andrew!

Sand Man

To fully appreciate the large scale sand drawings of artist Jim Denevan, most of the photographs on his site are taken perched high on top of a cliff, overlooking the beach. You can find them at www.jimdenevan.com

via ffffound.

Eye Balling it

I've seen a lot of projection projects but this is the first I've seen that uses snow as the canvas. This one was created at Mount Buller Australia. Yes there are ski resorts in Australia.

Via MAKE:blog.

Rat Trap

Amazing public art piece. I have no other info on this. If you know anything about it let me know and I'll post it here.

via Wooster Collective.

Who's Kid Robot?

Rotofugi, Chicago's very own designer toy store (just down the street), achieved commercial success in user-driven online advertising at least. The store's Youtube ad "The Collectors" hit the equivalent of internet gold by showing up on SwissMiss this morning with the help of the Hurley Sahimi where it was posted last week and now it's posted here! See how that works? Now you post it. Awesome! But seriously, go and buy something.

Add-Art Now Available for Firefox 3

Introduction to Add-Art from Steve Lambert on Vimeo.

To be used while looking through all of the other Ad blogs out there that critique and criticize bad ads while at the same time enabling applications such as adsense and google search words to cover their page in crap banners and other mindless word generated web ads. You can find Add-Art at Add-Art.org Now if the new Firefox would just stop crashing...

via F.A.T.

Sagmeister Talks to TED

The Progression of a Brand

DC Shoe company, has launched easily one of my favorite campaigns of the year. The campaign, "Progression" was kicked off with a $25 coffee table book, Agents of Change featuring photography chronicling the shoe company's rise to be one of the most influential athletic brands of all time. Says DC President Ken Block of the book,

"It puts it all in perspective...People involved in the sports can look at the book for the stories on the athletes and the photos, but its reach is huge beyond that."

The campaign is equally far reaching, a recent relaunch of the DC website matches the solemn black & White photography and elegant story telling of the book and sits in stark contrast to how the public viewed the alternative sports industry in the 1990's. In August the company aired the first commercial toting the progression tag line and an equally solemn yet elegant track "Figure 8" originally from the show, School House Rocks provides a surreal sound track. DC seems to have tapped into something amazing in that they have realized that their customers like the company itself, has grown up in the last couple years and that the 14 year-old year athlete in 1994, is now turning 28.

The art of Phil Hansen

In probably the best viral in a very long time, artist Phil Hansen demonstrates his creative talents over the last year.

New Meaning to Environmental Design

via MAKE:Blog.

Moscow's Burning

Federation Tower from Januk Latushka ACIDBURN on Vimeo.

Videoinstalation on the last floor of Federation Tower, the highest skyscraper in Moscow-City.

via Design You Trust