As designers, we love the networking and exposure potential the web brings to us, unthinkable not all that many years ago. Social Networking sites like Flickr, Myspace and Facebook, allow the less savvy out there to do it easily (rather than building or implementing their own solution). Copyright though is always an interesting question in this respect, so this is an interesting one from Facebook: Read the rest of this entry »

If you don’t know it, TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) “…started out (in 1984) as a conference bringing together people from those three worlds.” It is one of the most interesting and often thought and idea provoking conferences going. Here, design super star Philippe Stark talks about ‘why design?’. Well worth a watch, especially if you are a Stark fan.There’s lots more interesting TED stuff here.

We are not ones to get all funny about computers, they are work machines and that’s it. Sure we use Mac and yes they look nice and all but we see them for what they are - PC’s, not a lifestyle choice!

So it’s a little odd that something comes along that is worth talking about but Earthdesk is it……. if you are so inclined.

We sit around here talking and designing ‘better’ experiences for the ‘market’ but it seems that we often miss the things that are up close and personal. Earthdesk is a global desktop experience and we have to say it’s pretty damn cool. Synced in with the clock on your machine, which in the case of a Mac is synced to a global system if you have a permanent web connection, your desktop tracks the progress of night and day, in real time, across the globe, with city lights, clouds (updated every three hours from satellite images), the works.

There is something very, very cool, about watching it get darker outside as you watch night creep over the eastern seaboard on the desktop (with all the city lights popping on as it does so). It’s quite sobering and seems to make you connect with the fact that we are all part of a much larger picture. What’s more, it makes your desktop a ‘living’ experience, never static and never the same.

Get all the lowdown at www.xericdesign.com

There seems to be a lot of it going on out there in technology land but in ways that seem unpredictable. As we mentioned before, the BBC teamed up with Sony to bring its legendary show, Top Gear to the PS3’s Gran Tourismo 5, including live action feed via Gran Tourismo TV.

Well, Mazda went over to Facebook and asked Facebook users to submit concept sketches for its 2008 Mazda 3. Today Mallory McMorrow was announced as the winner of the competition and his concept will be turned into reality (of sorts) at the LA Motor show as it’s sculpted from clay… live.

We think this is only the start of something that will take the viewing and interacting world through a pretty wild journey as tangental uses are found to mix technologies and create greater reach for individuals and companies alike.

We would give you a link to see what’s what, but Facebook being Facebook, you have to login to see anything. Something we think is a downfall with the system. If you have an account and want to see the shizzle, click here and follow the ‘Shape Mazda’s Future on Facebook’ link though.

Once in a while something comes along that can only be described as special, Tekkonkinkreet is one of those things.

Based on a manga (a general term for Japanese comics) by Taiyo Matsumoto but put together by the studio that made the Animatrix, Tekkonkinkreet is possibly unlike anything you might have seen before, as it’s a interesting and visually complex blend of East meets West, throwing away what we usually consider Japanese Anime.

But it’s not just the visual of Tekkonkinkreet that catches one’s attention but the storyline itself. Centred around two young characters, Black and White, the story takes place in a grotty, crowded and on its way out ‘Treasure Town’, somewhere in Tokyo. At its most basic, Tekkonkinkreet is a story about gang turf and Yakuza, though it really is about the complex and symbiotic relationship shared between Black and White.

With an very tight soundtrack, beautiful animation and a deep and complex storyline, Tekkonkinkreet is a must see and as it went straight to DVD, there is no excuse not to grab a copy.

The problem (problem?) with big galleries, is that you have to go to them; in the case of some of the nation’s best, that means a 300 odd k drive (each way) from Sydney to see them in Canberra. While there is nothing nicer than spending time cruising the halls, it often means that most people not in the direct vicinity miss out on what’s going down.

The National Portrait Gallery though has an exhibition that comes to you, or your broadband line as the case might be.

Check out ‘Animated‘, the NPG’s first online exhibit.